McCullum reprimanded for dissent

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Brendon McCullum has been severely reprimanded by the match referee for showing dissent in Saturday's six-wicket loss to Deccan Chargers in Johannesburg. After a hearing on Sunday, the match referee S Venkataraghavan found him guilty of breaching Level one of the IPL Code of Conduct for players.

The charge was brought up by the on-field umpires S Ravi and Rudi Koertzen. The incident took place in the final over of Deccan's chase when a no-ball was called by Ravi at square leg off the first ball with Kolkata deemed to have only three fielders in the circle. McCullum was livid with the decision but, after lengthy discussions between him and the umpires, the decision stood.

McCullum had apologised at the post-match presentation for arguing with the umpires. "I want to apologise for the reaction out there, it was purely out of emotion," he said. "We're going to try to stay as positive as we can. It's not easy being in a team that has lost of a lot of tight games."

Kolkata have had a woeful campaign, losing ten of their 12 matches so far, and the defeat against Deccan was the second consecutive game they lost after seemingly being in control going into the final two overs.