South Africa paceman Kagiso Rabada has been suspended for the next two Test matches against Australia after being found guilty of a level 2 ICC Code of Conduct offence of "inappropriate and deliberate physical contact with a player".
He was fined 50 per cent of his match fee and picked up three demerit points after a disciplinary hearing following his denial of the charge, an ICC statement said on Monday.
This means Rabada has accumulated eight demerit points within a 24-month period automatically leading to a two-match suspension.
The incident happened in the 52nd over of Australia's first innings of the second Test, when Rabada made contact with Aussie skipper Steve Smith with his shoulder.
Announcing the verdict ICC match referee Jeff Crowe said: "I found that there was contact between Rabada and Smith, and in my judgement the contact by Rabada was inappropriate, and deliberate. He had the opportunity to avoid the contact, and I could not see any evidence to support the argument that the contact was accidental.
"It is also disappointing that this has happened the day after the pre-match meeting I had with both teams, where the importance of respect for opponents was highlighted.”