Sri Lanka suffered a major blow ahead of their must win game against India when Upul Tharanga was slapped with a two match suspension after his side was found guilty of a serious over-rate offence in its Group B fixture against South Africa at The Oval on Saturday.

Accordingly Tharanga who led the side in the absence of regular skipper Angelo Mathews will miss the remaining two qualifying matches against India and Pakistan. Sri Lanka conceded a 96 ruin defeat to South Africa in their opening fixrure and must win the remaining two to earn a semi-final spot.

“David Boon of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees imposed the suspension after the Sri Lanka side was ruled to be four overs short of its target when time allowances were taken into consideration,” the ICC said in a statement.

In accordance with Article 2.5.2 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to serious over-rate offences, players were fined 10 per cent of their match fees for the first two overs and 20 per cent of their match fees for the additional overs their side failed to bowl in the allotted time, with the captain also receiving two suspension points.

 As two suspension points equate to a ban from one Test or two ODIs or two T20Is, whatever comes first for the player, Tharanga has been suspended from his side’s upcoming matches against India (at The Oval, 8 June) and Pakistan (at the Cardiff Wales Stadium, 12 June), while each of his players have received a fine of 60 per cent.

 Tharanga pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing.

The charge was laid by on-field umpires Ian Gould and Aleem Dar, third umpire Paul Reiffel and fourth official Bruce Oxenford, all from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires.