Johannesburg: Vernon Philander suffered a hamstring tear in the ongoing fourth Test against England at the Wanderers. Philander pulled up nine balls into his spell with the new ball and ran off holding his leg.
Scans confirmed a grade two hamstring tear, meaning the all-rounder was unable to bowl for the remainder of the innings, International Cricket Council (ICC) reported.
The all-rounder, playing in his last Test, will be available for batting as Proteas attempt to gun down a world record 466 runs to win. On Sunday, he was also fined 15 per cent of his match fees for breaching the ICC's Code of Conduct. In addition to this, one demerit point has also been added to the disciplinary record of the pacer.
The pacer breached Article 2.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to "using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon his/her dismissal during an international match."
The incident had occurred in the 85th over of England's first innings on day two of the ongoing fourth and final Test at Wanderers when Philander used inappropriate language after dismissing Jos Buttler. Philander admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by Andy Pycroft of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees.
On-field umpires Bruce Oxenford and Joel Wilson, third umpire Rod Tucker and fourth official Allahdien Palekar levelled the charges. Philander is playing his last international match as he had announced his retirement from the game before the start of Test series against England.
