Rabada risks ICC wrath with send-off

Proteas pace ace Kagiso Rabada ripped through Australia on day one in Port Elizabeth but the fast bowler could be in danger of missing the rest of the series after coming into contact with visiting captain Steve Smith.

Midway through bulldozing Australia in a spell of 5-13 either side of tea, Rabada trapped Smith lbw for 24 and wildly celebrated the wicket of the world’s best Test batsman.

LIVE: Second Test scorecard, Port Elizabeth

But as he passed Smith, who was considering asking for a review, Rabada yelled again and brushed the shoulder of the batsman.

Smith immediately turned around and looked back at the bowler before referring his dismissal that proved to be plumb in front.

Rabada has already missed a Test through suspension – at Trent Bridge last July – having accrued four demerit points for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct on multiple occasions.

The 22-year-old currently has five points and should he reach eight he will miss the next two Tests and the rest of the series.

For Rabada to be suspended he would need three more points, but there is precedent; the paceman once copped a three-demerit point punishment when he made ‘avoidable conduct’ with Sri Lanka batsman Niroshan Dickwella in February 2016, a similar incident to today’s run-in with Smith.

The Dickwella incident was a Level 2 offence, which carries with a maximum of a 100 per cent fine and a 3-4 demerit point penalty, while a Level 1 offence carries a 1-2 demerit points. 

Wary of Rabada’s disciplinary record and his proximity to another suspension, Smith said at the start of the series the Australians might try to ‘fire up’ the right-armer to see if he would make another mistake.

That could be the case now, with Test legend Michael Holding baffled by Rabada’s behaviour.

“When people behave like that, you just wonder, why, why is that necessary?,” Holding said on SuperSport.

“When you're young you make mistakes but you don’t keep on making the same mistakes.”

Rabada's demerit point problems started 13 months ago when he was fined 50 per cent of his match fee and handed three demerit points for coming into avoidable contact with Dickwella during a one-day international in Cape Town.

Five months later he was fined and given one demerit point for giving England allrounder Ben Stokes a send-off involving inappropriate language that could be heard over the stump microphones.

That brought his overall tally to four points and triggered an automatic suspension for one Test, which South Africa won in Nottingham, but the send-off of Dhawan at Newlands less than a fortnight ago has him within one more incident like the Dickwella run-in from missing more matches.

Qantas tour of South Africa

South Africa squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Theunis de Bruyn, AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada.

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Jhye Richardson, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.

Warm-up match: Australia beat South Africa A by five wickets. Report, highlights

First Test Australia won by 118 runs. Scorecard

Second Test St George's Park, Port Elizabeth, March 9-13. Live coverage

Third Test Newlands, Cape Town, March 22-26. Live coverage

Fourth Test Wanderers, Johannesburg, March 30-April 3. Live coverage