Nathan Lyon charged by ICC for dropping ball on AB de Villiers

The South Africa vs Australia 1st Test has been marred by a few controversies that sprouted on Day 4. South Africa were given the humongous task of chasing down 417 on a this rather sluggish track at Kingsmead, Durban and the Australians were breathing fire, with the ball and with their sledges.

AB de Villiers was the sole warrior for South Africa in the 1st innings and he was the most priced wicket in the 2nd wicket too.

Markram was going along nicely, and ABD had joined him after the fall of Amla’s wicket. With Markram looking well settled on the pitch and ABD coming off a good, fighting knock in the 1st innings, it seemed like this partnership could take the Proteas close to that mammoth score of 417.

However, ABD’s stint at the crease was cut down by an error in judgement on part of both the batsmen. Markram tucked one to the leg side and took a couple of steps towards the non-strikers end, only to decide against the run.

Also Read: Video of Warner’s and Quinton de Kock’s altercation

AB de Villiers was quick to respond to Markram’s initial call, but then had to turn back hurriedly after Markram pulled out of the run, leaving ABD with a lot of work to do in order to get back to the crease.

ABD huffed and puffed, made an emphatic dive, but couldn’t get in, as Warner’s throw was right over the stumps and Lyon whipped off the bails in a flash.

But what Lyon did right after whipping off the bails was something that caught the attention of a lot of onlookers. Lyon dropped the ball on AB de Villiers after having inflicted the run-out and has been now reprimanded by the ICC.

Check out the video:

Pure cheek from Nathan Lyon 😂😂😂 #SAvAUS pic.twitter.com/vhuM4tgOHQ

— Josh Money (@JoshMoneyFOX) March 4, 2018

While dropping the ball did not seem to be a conscious decision/action from Lyon, on reviewing the entire incident, Jeff Crowe, the match referee deemed it to be a Level 1 offence on part of Lyon.

Also Read: The reason why Warner tried to attack de Kock

Lyon could be charged upto 50% of his match fee for the offence. Lyon has already accepted the charges and has also apologised to AB de Villiers.

And while this incident was probably a total accident, the bitter spat between Warner and de Kock that has been making the news today morning is of bigger concern with regards to the spirit of the game.

Apparently de Kock’s personal remarks directed towards Warner caused the issue as Warner