Dilshan fined

6 April 2012 11:59 am

The Sri Lanka all-rounder Tillakaratne Dilshan has been fined 10 per cent of his match fee for excessive appealing in the second Test against England in Colombo.

Dilshan was bowling at Jonathan Trott on day three when he sprinted towards the England batsman in celebration after the ball popped to short leg. There was no bat involved, though, and the appeal was promptly turned down.

Dilshan duly pleaded guilty to a level 1 breach of the ICC code of conduct, relating to clause 2.1.5.

That dictates excessive appealing "shall include a) repeated appeal of the same decision/appeal and b) celebrating a dismissal before the decision has been given".

The match referee, Javagal Srinath, said: "Dilshan accepted the charge and the penalty imposed without qualms and so there was no need for a formal hearing."

Meanwhile, Graeme Swann struck twice in the second session to deal body blows to Sri Lanka's desperate bid to save the second and final test against England on Friday.

The England off-spinner removed former captains Tillakaratne Dilshan (35) and Kumar Sangakkara (21) to leave Sri Lanka, who lead the two-match series 1-0, reeling on 139 for four at the fourth day's tea break.

Skipper Mahela Jayawardene (20) and Thilan Samaraweera (11) were in the middle with Sri Lanka still trailing England by 46 runs.

Dilshan, who has been fined 10 percent of his match fee for excessive appealing, was not happy after he was given out, caught at slip by James Anderson.

The batsman asked for a review and with no Hot-Spot in use, there seemed no conclusive evidence to prove otherwise and the field umpire's decision stood.

Swann then removed Sangakkara who had struggled for nearly two hours before edging a catch behind the wicket to Matt Prior.

Sri Lanka lost both openers in the morning session when English seamers removed both Dhammika Prasad (34) and Lahiru Thirimanne (11) but not before the visitors paid for some sloppy fielding.

Anderson got rid of the shaky Thirimanne, who edged a catch to Andrew Strauss at slip with the total on 23.

Prasad, sent in as a nightwatchman, justified his promotion and hung around for 87 minutes before he pulled Steven Finn straight to Tim Bresnan at deep square leg when the total was on 64.

It was some relief for Finn, who had dropped Prasad at mid-off when the batsman was on 21.

The missed opportunity was a second heartbreak for Swann, who earlier saw Matt Prior gift Thirimanne a reprieve by wasting a simple stumping chance.
(Agencies)