Niroshan Dickwella banned for two Sri Lanka matches after breaching ICC code of conduct

Sri Lanka's Niroshan Dickwella has been banned for two limited-overs matches after breaching the ICC's code of conduct.

The batsman was found guilty of "showing dissent at an umpire's decision" during Sunday's T20 international against Australia in Geelong, for which he was given two demerit points and fined 30 per cent of his match fee.

If a player accumulates four to seven demerit points within a two-year period, they are converted into two suspension points, which results in a ban of one Test or two limited-overs fixtures - either ODIs or T20s.

Earlier this month, Dickwella was fined 50 per cent of his fee, and handed three demerit points, for an incident during an ODI against South Africa in Cape Town.

These two penalties means the opener exceeded the threshold of four demerits during a two-year period, so the 23-year-old will now miss the T20 game against Australia in Adelaide on February 22, as well as Sri Lanka's opening ODI against Bangladesh on March 25.

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At the weekend, Dickwella was adjudged to have shown dissent when he "kicked the turf and looked at his shoulder for a prolonged period of time" after pausing to view the replay following his dismissal in Geelong.

Australia's wicketkeeper Tim Paine was also fined 15 per cent of his match fee and given one demerit point for a related incident during the same game.

Paine was found guilty of "using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batsman upon his/her dismissal during an international match."