Akmal was fined five per cent by Match Referee Roshan Mahanama, after he pleaded guilty to breaches of Article 2.1.8 of the ICC Code of Conduct of conduct contrary to the spirit of the game in the 18th over of the Pakistan reply. Lanky pace bowler Sharma also pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the same charge, said an ICC statement issued on Wednesday.
However, Sharma appealed the penalty and a hearing was held. After reviewing the evidence and the video footage, Roshan Mahamana re-confirmed his view that Sharma initiated this incident which was reported by all four umpires' on-field S Ravi and C Shamsuddin, TV umpire VA Kulkarni and fourth official K Srinath. Therefore a penalty of 15 per cent of the match fee was imposed.
Mahanama said: "This is clearly a high profile and high intensity series and the players on both sides have been reminded of their responsibility. Both players recognised their duty to set the right type of example through their on-field behaviour and they have accepted that they fell short of the level of conduct required.