Australian Test teammates Nathan Lyon and Shaun Marsh have been fined 20% of their match fees following a bizarre lbw overruling in their Sheffield Shield clash in Canberra.



NSW beat Western Australia by three wickets on Friday to secure a home Shield final next week, and the two sides will line up for a rematch in Canberra as Queensland failed to beat a stubborn Victoria side at the MCG.



But NSW and WA will have key players Lyon and Marsh available after they escaped the bizarre incident with a fine.

Controversy flared when umpire Paul Wilson’s decided to cancel his own ruling to give Marsh out lbw on day three.

Marsh had just brought up his 100 with a six over an already frustrated Lyon’s head, before being dismissed the next ball.



As Lyon celebrated, Marsh remonstrated, showing the inside edge of his bat to Wilson and prompting the respected former fast bowler to cross his arms and reverse the decision.



No Hawkeye, no snicko, no Hot Spot.



Adding to the drama, a seething Lyon took out his frustration on the stumps at the bowlers’ end with his foot.



Marsh was punished for showing dissent at an umpires decision, while Lyon was reported by the umpires for abuse of cricket equipment.



Both players accepted the fines, and it was the first offence either of them had committed under Cricket Australia’s behaviour code in the past 18 months.



Lyon chose not to be interviewed after the match, but his skipper Steve Smith downplayed the incident.



“I don’t think he touched the stump too hard,” he said. “It was quite loose around that area, I think he just tapped the stump and it came out. It probably looked a little worse than what it was.”

Smith, who hit a classy 89 in his side’s second innings to help get NSW across the line, also defended Wilson’s decision to overturn the lbw, saying from his position at first slip he believed Marsh had hit it.



“It takes a lot of courage from Paul to change his decision, so well played,” he said.



WA skipper Adam Voges admitted the decision was controversial and strange, but insisted that getting the correct decision was all that mattered.



With the fate of WA’s Shield season temporarily out of their hands, Voges said falling just three wickets short of hosting a home Shield final was a “bitter pill to swallow”.



However he looked on the bright side, saying if Victoria cling on, the Warriors will be playing in their first final since 1999.



“We’ll probably have a quiet beer and keep the live stream on, and pray, basically,” he said.