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

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

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

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

READ | Ben Stokes, Pope Regain Advant 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 England innings. Stokes breached fifty-run mark in style as he smacked a crunchy shot over mid-wicket on Rabada's delivery. ICC cricketer of year n switched gears to accelerate English innings. Youngster Ollie Pope also complimented all-rounder as he too, breached fifty-run mark. At end of 104 overs, England were at 300 for 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 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 stumps had hit pad before bat, while Root was beaten and bowled by a fast delivery from Rabada which hit top of his off stump. With four-match series tied at 1-1, batting first appeared to be a considerable advant on a pitch which had a fair covering of grass but which offered help to bowlers.

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

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