Kagiso Rabada to miss 4th test after being charged with 4th demerit point during 3rd test

Proteas pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada will miss the fourth and final test against England after receiving one demerit point in the third Test at Port Elizabeth. Rabada was charged for his celebration after dismissing England skipper Joe Root on the first day of the third Test. The South African was found guilty of a level 1 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel for which he received the demerit point and was also charged with 15% of his match fee. 

Rabada has now accumulated four demerit points in a 24 month period and as such will miss South Africa’s next Test match. The South African bowler was found to have violated Article 2.5 of the code, which relates to “using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon his or her dismissal during an international match”.

At the end of the day's play, Rabada admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction as proposed by Match Referee Andy Pycroft. Earlier, Rabada was charged twice in March 2018 against Australia in the second Test of the series whereas he was charged once in February 2018 during the fifth ODI against India. 

READ | Ben Stokes, Pope Regain Advantage For England In Third Test

Stokes, Pope smash resilient half-centuries

England's ace all-rounder Ben Stokes partnered with Ollie Pope to steady England's ship after a mini-collapse of the England innings. Stokes breached the fifty-run mark in style as he smacked a crunchy shot over mid-wicket on Rabada's delivery. The ICC cricketer of the year then switched gears to accelerate the English innings. Youngster Ollie Pope also complimented the all-rounder as he too, breached the fifty-run mark. At the end of 104 overs, England were at 300 for the loss of 4 wickets. 

READ | 'I Think MS Dhoni Has Played His Last Game': Harbhajan Singh Voices Fans' Worst Fear

Openers fall into leg-side trap

Zak Crawley and Dom Sibley gave England a solid start, putting on 70 for the first wicket but both fell to catches at backward square leg. Joe Denly was leg before to Maharaj when South Africa successfully sought a review which showed a ball headed for the stumps had hit pad before bat, while Root was beaten and bowled by a fast delivery from Rabada which hit the top of his off stump. With the four-match series tied at 1-1, batting first appeared to be a considerable advantage on a pitch which had a fair covering of grass but which offered no help to the bowlers.

READ | MS Dhoni Has A Very Slim Chance Of Making It To T20 WC: Madan Lal Commits To A Percentage

READ | BCCI Central Contracts List 2020: Full List Including All Promotions And Demotions