Sri Lanka v South Africa: Vernon Philander fined for ball tampering

Vernon Philander (extreme left)

South African medium pacer Vernon Philander has been fined 75% of his match fee by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after being found guilty of ball tampering during the ongoing Test match against Sri Lanka at Galle. 

The umpires –  Billy Bowden and Richard Kettleborough – together with third umpire Nigel Llong, fourth umpire Ruchira Palliyaguruge and match referee Jeff Crowewhile found the 29-year-old "scratching the ball with his fingers and thumb" while examining the videotapes of the match at the end of day’s play, thereby booking him for violating clause 42.1 of the ICC's match playing conditions.

An inquiry wasn’t required as Philander did not object to being involved in altering the condition of the ball. 

Vernon Philander fined 75% of his match fee for ball tampering. #herewegoagain

— Firdose Moonda (@FirdoseM) July 18, 2014

South Africa in pole position at Galle: 

After scoring 455 in the first innings batting first, the visitors, led by spearhead Dale Steyn, ripped through the Sri Lankan batting on a relatively flat deck to get a massive lead of 165 runs. Philander, though, did not get any wicket, while Steyn and Morne Morkel picked up 5 and 3 wickets respectively. 

Opening batsman Upul Tharanga (83 off 155) and captain Angelo Mathews (89 off 182) were the only ones to offer any resistance to what was a rampaging spell of fast bowling on day 3 of the Test match. 

This is South Africa’s second such offence in 9 months time, with top order batsman Faf du Plessis being involved in the first one after he was caught “rubbing the ball close to the zipper of his trouser pocket” during a Test match against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates last October. 

The second and final Test match between the two sides starts on July 24 at Colombo.