Akmal fined for ignoring umpires

Umar Akmal has been fined 50 percent of his match fee for ignoring both on-field umpires while going for a change in gloves during Pakistan's semi-final against Sri Lanka in Colombo. There was no hearing as Akmal pleaded guilty and accepted the sanction to the charge laid by umpires Simon Taufel and Rod Tucker.

Jeff Crowe, the match referee, said: "In this incident, Umar showed blatant disregard to both the umpires' requests, which was offensive and unacceptable from an international cricketer and contrary to our unique spirit, hence a level two charge was laid."

"Respect for the umpires is integral and is something which we always emphasise and encourage," Crowe said. "Umar, when pleading guilty, apologised and regretted his action."

The incident happened in the 17th over of Pakistan's chase when Akmal was at the non-striker's end. Akmal remained unbeaten on 29 as Pakistan fell short by 16 runs.