South Africa penalised

Du Plessis is not the first cricketer to benefit from the compassion of the ICC. During the Cape Town Test in early 2010, England seamer Stuart Broad was caught on camera digging his shoe spikes into the ball. His action caused a tear in the ball's surface, and he then tossed it to James Anderson, who picked at the spot. No official penalty resulted ; in fact there was not even a warning or a reprimand. Discussing the incident in his newspaper column, former England captain Michael Vaughan wrote: "had this been a game involving Pakistan, and Shoaib Akhtar or Mohammad Asif had been pictured using their fingers on the ball, there would have been uproar".

Waqar Younis, speaking to ESPNcricinfo after the Test finished, also believed the fine was lenient: "I think, to be very honest, Faf got away with it with just 50% of the match fee. I thought it was a bit of frustration from the South Africans, they did not need to do that. It leaves a big question mark on South Africa's credibility."