Ackerman and de Bruyn collect one-match bans

HD Ackerman, the captain of Gauteng, and Easterns' allrounder Pierre de Bruyn have both been banned for one domestic limited-overs match, after an incident in their Standard Bank Cup one-day game at the weekend.

They appeared before the United Cricket Board of South Africa's adjudicating officer, Advocate Michael Kuper SC, in a hearing in Johannesburg today. He found them guilty of contravening Clauses 1.3 and 1.4 of the Rules and Code of Conduct of the UCBSA, after they "engaged in acts of misconduct and used crude and abusive language during the match".

A similar case against Garnett Kruger was dropped because of lack of evidence. The fast bowler Andre Nel, who was also cited, was unable to attend the hearing due to time constraints. He will appear before a separate disciplinary hearing on charges relating to the same incident on Thursday.

Meanwhile the Easterns B player Renato Almeida also faced charges arising from an incident in the UCB Bowl match between Easterns B and Northerns B at Benoni (Nov 28-30). Almeida was found guilty of contravening Clauses 1.2 and 1.3 of the Rules and Code of Conduct, for showing dissent at an umpire's decision. He has been suspended for one UCB Bowl match.