Du Plessis found guilty of ball tampering

In a three-hour hearing, held at the Adelaide Oval with match referee Andy Pycroft, the Protea captain has reportedly been fined but not banned from playing in the final Test against Australia. The stand-in captain had been charged with "changing the condition of the ball in breach of Law 42.3" after the second Test at Hobart.

Du Plessis had pleaded not guilty and the fine that he might have to pay could be in the range of 50 and 100 per cent of his match fee and a possible one-Test suspension. The ICC has not made an official announcement as of now, but journalists at Adelaide Oval tweeted that the South African had escaped a suspension from the final Test of the series.

The 32-year-old was charged on the basis of television footage that showed him shining the ball with a candy in his mouth. However, he was defended by former captain Hashim Amla calling the decision "a joke".

The South Africa team has been caught in the eye of a storm since the accusation, and coach Russell Domingo admitted that the team's preparations ahead of the final Test have been hampered as a result.

"It hasn't been an ideal preparation, there's no doubt about it, I would be lying if I said it has been spectacular preparation. I am comfortable with the way we've gone about it, we are a unified team, we stand by our captain, and we stand by the decisions we've made. They might not have always come across as ideal, but in that particular time and space we thought they were the right things to do," Domingo was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.