Ajmal fined for Sangakkara send-off

Saeed Ajmal, the Pakistan offspinner, has been fined 15% of his match fee for giving Kumar Sangakkara a send-off after dismissing him in Wednesday's Twenty20 match. Ajmal was found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct following a hearing in Colombo after the game.

Ajmal was charged under Level 1.6 of the code, which refers to "pointing or gesturing towards the pavilion in an aggressive manner by a bowler or other members of the fielding side upon the dismissal of a batsman."

The incident took place in the 14th over of the Sri Lanka innings; the match was evenly balanced at the time, with Sangakkara guiding Sri Lanka at 100 for 3, needing 73 more off 42 balls. Ajmal got the match-turning breakthrough by bowling Sangakkara, and then pointed to the pavilion and spoke aggressively to the Sri Lankan captain.

The on-field umpires Asoka de Silva and Tyron Wijewardene immediately had a word with Ajmal and then reported the incident to the match referee Alan Hurst, who slapped Ajmal with a fine.

"In coming to my decision I took into account the fact the player immediately recognised his error of judgment and apologised to both umpires," Hurst said. "He also did so to Kumar Sangakkara after the game. The player had no previous instances of this type of behaviour but it was pointed out to him during the hearing that his actions were a clear breach of the ICC Code of Conduct."

Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed, captain Shahid Afridi and coach Intikhab Alam were also present at the hearing along with Ajmal and the match officials.