South Africa’s Quinton de Kock has opted to contest the ICC match referee’s charges levelled against him for his role in the off-field row with Australia’s David Warner during the first Test between the two sides.

Both Warner and de Kock had been charged guilty by match referee Jeff Crowe for their run-in during the tea interval on the fourth day of the Test after the incident was caught on camera.

While the former had accepted the Level 2 charges levelled against him on Wednesday, the latter has decided to contest the Level 1 charges against him.

This means that the Proteas wicket-keeper will now attend a hearing on Wednesday night in Port Elizabeth.

A Level 1 ICC offense carries with it a maximum fine of 50 per cent of the match fees along with a maximum of two demerit points.

Warner has been fined 75 per cent of his match fees along with being given three demerit points for his Level 2 charge.

The second Test between the two sides is slated to get underway on Friday at Port Elizabeth. The remainder of the four-match series is sure to be spiced up after the heated affair at Durban where Australia clinched a 118-run victory.

After the Test, the Australian camp had made the point that it was the South African wicket-keeper who had first got personal with the on-field banter, leading Warner to respond in the staircase to the dressing rooms during tea on the fourth day of the first Test.

The South African camp has refuted the allegation, stating that de Kock had not touched personal territory during the banter.