Lyon sorry but cops charge for ball drop

An apologetic Nathan Lyon has been charged by the match referee for his 'ball drop' celebration of AB de Villiers' dismissal on day four of the first Test in Durban.

Lyon removed the bails at the non-striker's end to find de Villiers short of his ground on Sunday then dropped the ball next to the South African batsman, who was disconsolate and in the dirt after unsuccessfully diving to make his ground.

Lyon contacted de Villiers on Sunday night to apologise, telling the veteran there was no malice intended. The pair appeared to be on good terms on Monday morning, before the start of play at Kingsmead.

The offspinner accepted the level-one charge of conduct contrary to the spirit of cricket, meaning there will be no hearing.

Opinion was split among pundits about whether Lyon's actions were cheeky or classless.

"He is an experienced cricketer. I think he'll probably say it was unnecessary himself," former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith told cricket.com.au.

Proteas captain Faf du Plessis suggested Lyon's celebration wasn't on the minds of his team, who have fallen 1-0 down in the four-Test series that continues in Port Elizabeth on Friday.

"It's expected, it's not anything out of the ordinary for me. We certainly don't complain about it, it's big men playing competitive sport," du Plessis said.

"I didn't even see the footage of Lyon dropping the ball on AB until this morning, so it's not like it was anything extra for us."

Match referee Jeff Crowe had plenty to sift through regarding the spiteful series opener in Durban.

David Warner gave a frenzied serve to Aiden Markram and de Villiers after running the latter out for a duck on day four.

Warner is expected to avoid sanction for that emotional celebration, but he's likely to face punishment for Sunday's staircase stoush with Quinton de Kock at tea.

South Africa paceman Kagiso Rabada's send-off of Warner on day three, which attracted the attentionof both umpires, will also no doubt be looked at by Crowe.