Dhoni sanctioned after IPL defeat

Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni has been sanctioned for speaking out about a crucial lbw decision in their IPL defeat to Mumbai.

Chennai lost the IPL qualifier to the Ricky Ponting-coached Mumbai team by 25 runs, and now face a sudden-death eliminator on Friday against the winner of tonight's Rajasthan Royals v Royal Challengers Bangalore match.

Chennai's West Indies opener Dwayne Smith was given out lbw in the first over of Chennai's run-chase, bowled by Sri Lanka stalwart Lasith Malinga.

The ball hit the batsman full on the pads but appeared to be heading down the leg side.

The Hawk-Eye ball-tracker on IPLT20.com, the tournament's official website, showed Malinga's delivery was wide of the stumps.

Image Id: ~/media/70E9C7051F3D402EA9900E57C54906B5

Smith was given out lbw to this ball from Malinga // iplt20.com

Speaking at the post-match presentation, Dhoni criticised the dismissal, calling it a "horrible decision".

"We lost too many (wickets) in the middle, not to forget Dwayne Smith got a horrible decision to start off by any standards," Dhoni said.

"We need to blame ourselves we were not up to the mark, we need to lift our game and play more sensibly with the bat."

Dhoni was fined 10 per cent of his match fee for "inappropriate public comment in relation to an umpire’s decision" a statement said.

The statement added Dhoni admitted the offence under the IPL Code of Conduct for Players and Team Officials and accepted the sanction imposed by the match referee Ranjan Madugalle.