Under the rules of cricket, the bowler’s arm must not extend beyond the permitted 15 degrees and an ICC expert found that Phangiso exceeded the limit.

The 32-year-old left-arm spinner, who has 77 wickets in 84 Twenty20 appearances during his career, will miss the first two matches of South Africa’s series with Australia.

He will be retested on March 7 and, if he passes, he will be able to take part in the final Twenty20 match against Australia and will be eligible for selection for the World Twenty20 in India.

South Africa’s first match in the tournament is due to take place against England on March 18.

The competition itself is scheduled to take place from March 8 until April 3.

Phangiso has been declared ineligible for the first two contests with the Australians, in Durban on Friday (March 4) and in Johannesburg on Sunday (March 6).

The spinner could return to the fold as early as March 9, when the Proteas face Australia in Cape Town.

Phangiso’s action was found to be illegal during a domestic 50-overs contest where his Highveld Lions side overcame Cape Cobras in the final of the Momentum One-Day Cup.

The left-armer took three wickets in the victory.

The 32-year-old, who has never earned a Test cap for South Africa, will remain with the squad and will work closely on changing his action to ensure it meets ICC requirements along with Cricket South Africa high performance manager Vinnie Barnes and coach Claude Henderson.

Phangiso has become the latest to fall victim to the ruling after Zimbabwe international Brian Vitori was banned for an illegal action earlier this month.

The 25-year-old left-arm seamer was reported during the T20 series his country played against Bangladesh in January and was summoned for assessment in Chennai in India.

All of his deliveries were said to have exceeded the 15 degree limit.