The controversy between the South Africa and Australia refuses to die down, with South Africa speedster Vernon Philander taking to Twitter to accuse Smith of initiating the shoulder contact with Kagiso Rabada. Philander went on to say that Smith gave the shoulder to Rabada and is ‘just as guilty’ as the fast bowler. However, Philander was quick to backtrack and deleted the tweet, claiming his account was hacked.

Kagiso Rabada was suspended for the next two Test matches after being found guilty of a Level 2 ICC Code of Conduct offence of 'inappropriate and deliberate physical contact with a player'. Philander, who played the match in question, had also took a dig at the Australian skipper in the tweet stating that Smith could have avoided contact and it seemed that Smith could have tried ‘some football skills to get a penalty’.

Proteas speedster Kagiso Rabada received a fine of 50 per cent of his match fee and three demerit points after a disciplinary hearing following his denial of the charge. Rabada has accumulated eight demerit points within a 24-month period, automatically leading to a two-match suspension. The incident happened in the 52nd over of Australia's first innings of the second Test, when moving towards the slips, Rabada made contact with Steve Smith with his shoulder. The 22-year-old accepted a second charge under 2.1.7 of the code – using language, actions or gestures which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batsman upon his or her dismissal. He received a further 15% fine of his match fee and an additional demerit point bringing his total to nine.