Cricket News
Last Updated: 27/09/22 6:07am
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Injured England skipper Heather Knight has accused India bowler Deepti Sharma of ‘lying’ over claims Charlie Dean was warned before her ‘Mankad’ dismissal on Saturday.
Dean was run out at the non-striker’s end as England attempted to close in on an unlikely victory, having been 115-9 but with Dean comfortable at the crease on 47, before Sharma took the bails off after entering her delivery stride.
The ‘Mankad’ dismissal was upheld by the third umpire and sealed a 16-run win and 3-0 series sweep for India, with Dean throwing her bat to the ground in tears as boos rang out from the crowd at the manner of the victory.
“It was a plan, because we had warned her [for leaving the crease early] repeatedly,” Sharma told reporters upon the team’s arrival in Kolkata.
“We did things as per the rules and guidelines.
“We told the umpires as well, but she was there [outside the crease]. We couldn’t do much.”
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Knight, currently out with a hip-joint injury, has taken to Twitter to refute the claims.
“The game is over, Charlie was dismissed legitimately. India were deserved winners of the match and the series. But no warnings were given,” she wrote.
“They don’t need to be given, so it hasn’t made the dismissal any less legitimate.
“But if they’re comfortable with the decision to affect the run out, India shouldn’t feel the need to justify it by lying about warnings.”
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Sky Sports News has contacted the ECB today regarding Knight’s tweets but they do not wish to comment and it is understood the ECB will not be making a complaint about the dismissal.
ESPNcricinfo analyst Peter Della Penna has since reviewed Dean’s entire innings back, finding that she left her crease early a total of 72 times on Saturday.
“There’s a lot that’s gone on. This should not be a story. This should be dead in the water, and the story was kind of ending towards the backend of yesterday,” Charles Dagnall told Sky Sports on Monday.
“No laws were broken, absolutely not, Deepti is well within her rights not to warn Charlie Dean and run her out at the non-striker’s end and that is a completely legitimate dismissal. Nothing was done wrong.
“It’s obviously a rare occurrence. I can remember four ‘Mankad’ incidents in the professional era.
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“It was a talking point and so when it came to the post-match press conference, I obviously had to ask the question [to India captain Harmanpreet Kaur]. And I was very specific about the way I asked the question.
“I asked her view of what happened at the end of the game, and that’s all that I asked.
“She gave me an answer that wasn’t an answer to the question, so I asked her again, and I thought she responded brilliantly. And then we moved on.
“Not once in that time did she mention any warnings given by her or Deepti to the batter Charlie Dean or the umpire at all.
“Deepti Sharma then gets asked when she lands in Kolkata and then mentions that there were loads of warnings given. Now had she turned around and said: ‘I didn’t give a warning’, then there’s no story.
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“But she has said that, and it has now garnered a response from the England captain.
“In this respect, should the England captain be going on her personal social media calling Deepti a liar? Because that is essentially what she’s doing.
“No, I don’t think she should be.
“If there is a bit of upset about the words used, there should be an ECB statement and that’s the way it should come out. It should not come out from an England captain’s personal social media account.
“So I think there’s a lot of people actually in the wrong. I don’t think there’s many in the right on this one.”
Sky Sports Cricket’s Lydia Greenway said:
“I’ve spoken to Heather,” former England team-mate Greenway confirmed. “Heather Knight wasn’t playing in that game, but she’s England captain and if she feels that something has been said that doesn’t match up with what’s happened, then she will say it and she will defend her players fiercely.
“Those two were Freya Davies and Charlie Dean, who have said to her at no point were they given a warning.
“So you would then think from a character point of view, Heather is then going to trust what her players have said.
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“It’s interesting I guess from an Indian point of view, because then you start thinking could a warning have been given? Might we have missed it on commentary?
“I think if a warning was given then we would have seen the umpire perhaps have a chat with Charlie Dean and Freya Davies. So that is probably one thing we do need to actually get to the bottom of. Were the umpires included in that?
“I don’t think I feel overly strongly about it [Knight Tweeting].
“She’s England captain and she will defend her players. If she feels something has been done wrong then I think she’s well within her rights to do that.”
Sky Sports Cricket’s Michael Atherton said post-match:
“It’s pretty simple as far as I’m concerned. The onus is on the non-striker to stay in your ground until the ball is released. That is the law of the game.
“I always find it odd when ‘Mankads’ happen. It’s historically associated with something underhand, but whenever it happens, the focus always falls on the fielding side and the bowler as if they’ve done something wrong.
“A ‘Mankad’ cannot happen if the non-striker stays in their ground. And that’s where the onus falls.
“In fact, the MCC have issued a statement to say the game was properly officiated.
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“I don’t think anybody would doubt that it was a miserable end to the game.
“The game was bubbling up into a fine conclusion, England were really struggling, I think they were 115-9 at one stage, it was a lovely recovery, which Charlie Dean was right at the heart of, and it looked as though they might have a chance of winning. And that’s when ‘Mankads’ usually happen! When the run chase is tight.
“And there’s no question Deepti Sharma was looking for the opportunity. But Charlie Dean gave her the opportunity by being out of her grounds.
“From the moment that front foot landed, you could see she [Dean] was marginally out of her ground, so that when the arm would have come over at the expected point of release, she would have been a little bit further out of her ground.
“So the message is clear really: If you’re a non-striker at the non-striker’s end, you stay in your ground until you see the ball released, and this thing can never happen.
“The debate will never happen, and all the outpouring of emotion on social media can’t happen. It’s simple, stay in your ground.
“The law is absolutely clear.”
Sky Sports Cricket’s Greenway said post-match:
“It just doesn’t feel like the right way to win a game.
“The first thing to say is, they’re allowed to do that. They’re well within their rights to get a wicket that way.
“The way in which it’s managed I would disagree with. If I was captain of that team, I would say lets give them a warning, and then make sure that Charlie Dean is aware of what she’s doing.
“Because as youngsters growing up playing the game, you’re taught to back-up, and if you look at Charlie Dean backing up, she was just focussed on what was happening at the other end.
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“I don’t think she was trying to gain an unfair advantage.
“She was just simply focussing on what was in hand. She was just looking at what’s happening, literally turned around and Deepti Sharma has decided to do that, which, we must say, she is allowed to do.
“What I would have liked to have seen is a warning, if I was the Indian captain.
“And I would be disappointed if England had done the same and didn’t give a warning.”
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