IPL 2023: Heinrich Klaasen fined; Amit Mishra reprimanded for breaching Code of Conduct

Hyderabad, May 13 (IANS) Sunrisers Hyderabad wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen was fined 10% of his match fee, while Lucknow Super Giants' Amit Mishra was reprimanded for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct during Saturday's match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Saturday.

Klaasen has been fined 10 per cent of his match fee after admitting to the Level 1 Offence under Article 2.7 which states the use of public criticism/inappropriate comment in the IPL's Code of Conduct.

Article 2.7 states, "Without limitation, Players and Team Officials will breach Article 2.7 if they publicly criticise the Match Officials or denigrate a Player or Team against which they have played in relation to incidents which occurred in a Match."

"When assessing the seriousness of the breach, without limitation, the context within which the comments have been made and the gravity of the offending comments must be taken into account."

The breach seems to have been caused by Klaasen saying in a mid-innings chat with the broadcasters, "Some not-so-great umpiring decisions being made but that's part of the game and you have to get over it and go on with life," while talking about crowd disruption in innings caused for nearly 10 minutes after a no-ball was reversed by Lucknow on review.

On the other hand, Mishra admitted to a level 1 offence under Article 2.2 of IPL's Code of Conduct which states the abuse of equipment during the match, with the veteran leg-spinner accepting the sanction.

Article 2.2 includes any action(s) outside the course of normal cricket actions, such as hitting or kicking the wickets and any action(s) which deliberately (i.e. intentionally), recklessly or negligently (in either case even if accidental) results in damage to the advertising boards, boundary fences, dressing room doors, mirrors, windows and other fixtures and fittings. For example, this offence may be committed, without limitation, when a Player swings his/her bat vigorously in frustration and causes damage to an advertising board.

The incident in question could be Mishra banging the ball on the field out of frustration after taking out Anmolpreet Singh, who had hit him for a six on the previous ball of the ninth over of Hyderabad's innings. For Level 1 breaches of the Code of Conduct, the Match Referee's decision is final and binding.

Posting 182/6 on board wasn't sufficient for Hyderabad despite Klaasen and Abdul Samad adding 58 runs for the sixth wicket as Prerak Mankad, Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis changed gears in a display of unbelievable big-hitting to take Lucknow to a seven-wicket victory with four balls to spare.

On a pitch with some turn for spinners, where Lucknow captain Krunal Pandya took 2/24, Mankad top-scored with an unbeaten 64 off 45 balls to be the anchor of the chase, Pooran was at his blazing best to be 44 not out off 13 balls while Stoinis made up for a slow start to score 40 off 25 balls.

Stoinis and Pooran were pivotal in bringing the turning point of the match, smashing 31 runs in the 16th over bowled by Abhishek Sharma. With the win ending their three-game winless streak, Lucknow are now in fourth place in the points table with 13 points, while Hyderabad's Playoffs hopes are now tricky with eight points.