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Colombo: Sri Lanka's Tharanga Paranavitana has been fined 50 percent of his match fees for an excessive appeal during the second Test against New Zealand, the International Cricket Council said on Monday.
Paranavitana claimed a catch at silly point off New Zealand tailender Iain O'Brien on Sunday and began celebrating by throwing the ball in the air even as the umpires conferred on the dismissal.
Television replays showed the fielder take the ball on the half-volley, but match referee Andy Pycroft of Zimbabwe insisted Paranavitana was not fined for claiming a wrong catch.
"Although replays showed that the ball hit the ground before it reached Tharanga, I am satisfied he did not know this at the time and was not attempting to deceive the umpires in that regard," Pycroft said in an ICC statement.
"But the fact of the matter is you can't celebrate by throwing the ball in the air and cross the pitch while continuing to appeal as the umpires are conferring with each other.
"It is not the sort of example that players should be setting at any time, especially given the message his action sends out to the millions of people watching at the ground and on television.
"Therefore his behaviour merited some form of action."
Pycroft said Paranavitana had apologised for his action and blamed the incident on "his excitement at Sri Lanka being on the verge of winning the series".
Sri Lanka won the Test by 96 runs to sweep the two-match series.
The amount Paranavitana will pay as a fine was unclear since the match fees earned by the Sri Lankan players are not made public.
