Black Caps manager Currie asks players to avoid clashes during semi-final

Wellington, Mar 27 (ANI): Amid concerns over yesterday's on-field tussle against South Africa, New Zealand cricket team manager Dave Currie has urged players to be careful and avoid such incidents in their semi-final in Colombo on Tuesday night.

The International Cricket Council has already fined skipper Dan Vettori and 12th man Kyle Mills for their roles in yesterday's dispute against for sparking a heated exchange with du Plessis.

Mills' actions had led to a confrontation between the two sets of players and, he along with Vettori was charged with conduct causing "inappropriate and deliberate physical contact between players", stuff.co.nz reports.

The ICC judged Mills, the chief offender by docking him 60 percent of his match fee and then 60 percent of the remainder for "bringing the game into disrepute". Vettori was docked half his match fee on the first charge and then 40 percent of the remaining for conduct "contrary to the spirit of the game". Du Plessis was fined half his match fee on the physical contact charge, the report said.

Currie said du Plessis apologised to the Black Caps after the game for his part in the altercation.

"It happened at a pivotal moment in the heat of highly competitive international sport when emotions were running pretty high. Dan and du Plessis, clearly, were having a couple of quiet words. Kyle was walking over to give Dan a water bottle. In the heat of the moment there was an exchange of words and Kyle probably wasn't smart to get involved," Currie said. Du Plessis, in fact, pushed Kyle and he was cited for that. We can't have any kind of physical contact in cricket. But They (South Africa) took exception to Kyle - and he understands and acknowledges that as well, particularly because as a substitute he should have kept well out of it," he added. (ANI)