Match referee gives clean chit to Sangakkara

The ICC on Saturday gave a clean chit to Kumar Sangakkara, who was involved in an unsavoury incident with New Zealand all-rounder Nathan McCullum during a tri-series match, saying the Sri Lanka captain was found not guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct.

Match referee Alan Hurst gave Sangakkara the benefit of doubt after watching video recording of the incident in which he had collided with McCullum, trying to ground his bat while taking a run during the washed out match in Dambulla. "I looked at video footage of the incident from various angles and considered the detailed evidence of the umpires. I found that video evidence that was put forward by the player provided reasonable doubt as to whether the contact was deliberate," Hurst said.

Sangakkara was charged with a Level 2 offence, contrary to clause 2.2.4 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players or Team Officials, which relates to "inappropriate and deliberate physical contact between players in the course of play," the game's world body said in a release.