Sports
Mathews regrets Mankading of Buttler
by Rex Clementine
In an interview with our sister paper ‘Divaina Online’ former captain Angelo Mathews admitted that he regretted Mankading of England batsman Jos Buttler in 2014 at Edgbaston. This was the tour where Mathews had skippered Sri Lanka to an ODI and Test series wins in England. The teams had come into the final ODI with the series squared 2-2 and everything to play for. Buttler was run out for 21 as he was backing up too far at the non-striker’s end by off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake.
The umpires asked captain Mathews whether Sri Lanka were serious in their appeal. Mathews answered in the affirmative and Buttler had to go. But there was a storm of protest in England saying that Sri Lanka had contravened the Spirit of Cricket. Many believe that Mankading is unsportsmanlike as batsmen leave the crease unwittingly and not in a bid to gain undue advantage.
Mathews was adamant at that point that he wouldn’t hesitate to do it again, but now seven years older and a veteran of 100 Tests, the former captain regrets the decision.
“It was a spur of the moment thing. In hindsight we shouldn’t have done it. I could have told the umpires that I’m withdrawing the appeal. Yes, I regret the decision. But we had warned Buttler several times. Not only at Edgbaston but even in the previous game at Lord’s,” Mathews said.
There was more to it than what everyone had witnessed that night. Sri Lanka coach Marvan Atapattu is meticulous with his planning and he had observed in the previous game that Buttler converting many singles into two and twos into threes. It had been observed that Buttler had run ten twos in the last ten overs in the previous game. Marvan had given the thumbs up for Mankading of Buttler.
The incident was not well received in England. Mathews was a public enemy and a much despised figure. Not even David Warner and Steve Smith after the sandpaper gate had received such a hostile reception in England during Australia’s Ashes campaign.
Mathews and England captain Sir Alastair Cook had exchanged words during the game and Cook minced no words at the post match media briefing. “There’s a line and that line was crossed here. I’ve never seen it before in the game and I was pretty disappointed by it. As captain of your country, there are certain ways you want your team to operate. And obviously he is fine with it. He has said he will do it again.”
Sri Lanka’s Manager at that point was the equally eloquent Michael de Zoysa and he queried, ‘Who marks those lines.’
Michael was also careful to protect his captain. Instead of sending Mathews for the post series media briefing as was the custom, he brought down Mahela Jayawardene. MJ was diplomatic. “We had warned Buttler at Lord’s and we warned him in the 42nd over in this game and when he did it again in the 44th over, we ran out of options,” he said.
Buttler had been a serial offender and had been dismissed backing up too far in the IPL as well with Ravichandran Ashwin effecting the run out.
The MCC, the guardians of Cricket’s Laws put an end to the debate with a tweak in the Law in 2017. Earlier, it had been suggested that the batter could take off when the bowler landed his back foot. But now the non-striker can take off only after the bowler has released the ball and it seals the deal.” The MCC Cricket Committee that introduced the change included some of the finest brains in the game like Kumar Sangakkara, Ricky Ponting and Brendon McCullum.
What does the term Mankading means? Well, Indian cricketer Vinoo Mankad had famously run out Australia’s Bil Brown in 1947 in Sydney for backing up too far after multiple warnings. There was controversy but Australian captain Sir Don Bradman had defended Mankad’s actions. The press had a field day and gave birth to a new English word, ‘Mankading’.
[Cricbuzz]
Why did David Miller refuse a single off the penultimate delivery with Delhi Capitals needing 2 off 2? It’ll be spoken of for a while, but not inside the Gujarat Titans change room. Because Prasidh Krishna bowled a nerveless slower bouncer off the final delivery that Miller missed, and Jos Buttler then nailed a direct hit with an underarm throw from behind the stumps to run out Kuldeep Yadav, clinching a dramatic first win for GT in IPL 2026.
Despite being adjudged run out on the field, Miller wasn’t in the mood to concede defeat, and reviewed the final ball for a possible wide. But when replays confirmed what he had perhaps known, he was crestfallen. Equally distraught in the dugout was K L Rahul, whose 52-ball 92 set the game up for DC but for one run.
It was GT’s first win of the tournament and the first loss for DC after starting the campaign with two wins in a row.
Thirty-six needed off 12. A bruised finger that didn’t make it easy for him to grip the bat had forced Miller to retire hurt with DC needing 81 off 42. But when Tristan Stubbs was run-out in the 17th over, Miller returned hoping to play second fiddle to Rahul. Instead, he was now expected to deliver a box-office hit with Rahul nicking behind off a full Mohammed Siraj delivery two balls later.
Miller nearly delivered what was expected, as he went 6, 4, 6 off Siraj, repeatedly peppering the short leg-side boundary. At the other end, Vipraj Nigam also ramped four off a short delivery to bring the equation down to a manageable 13 off the final over.
Prasidh was tasked to bowl the final over. His three overs prior to that had been walloped for 41; Rahul, his state mate, had climbed into him earlier in the night. But all that would’ve been forgiven if Prasidh delivered a gun final over. That GT could only have four fielders out due to a slow over rate added to his challenge. And he nearly succumbed.
Nigam made room and swung cleanly to hit the first ball to the long-off fence, but a rush of blood had him swipe the second delivery to Shubman Gill at mid-off. With DC now needing nine off four, Kuldeep gently deflected his first ball to deep third to leave the chase in Miller’s hands.
With the equation down to 8 off 3, Prasidh bowled a slot-ball that Miller walloped over long-off. But with two needed, Miller inexplicably refused a single to take it all upon himself to finish the deal. He couldn’t connect on the final ball, and Prasidh belted a roar. GT had pulled one from under DC’s rug in dramatic circumstances.
After scores of 1 and 0 in his first two games, Rahul announced himself with a 29-ball half-century that was as pleasing as they come for large parts. It was also one that didn’t have the baggage of him playing run-accumulator, like he has tended to in the past while opening the batting. This Rahul was fun, free and fearless and he helped DC overcome a few roadblocks along the way, like when they lost two wickets in two deliveries to Rashid Khan at the halfway mark.
Rahul was particularly menacing against the fast bowlers, and it began with a wristy flick that he sent way back over deep square off Kagiso Rabada. The early jitters out of the way – if he even had some inkling of them – he batted like a man possessed, fearlessly climbing into length balls from Prasidh over cover, and slapping disdainfully over point.
He is good, but where is the Rashid of old, they asked. Turns out he hadn’t gone anywhere. After he conceded just nine in his first two with DC rampant, he returned to dismiss Nitish Rana in his dramatic third over, the 10th of the innings. Having been given out lbw earlier, only for Rana to overturn the decision through DRS, he was out a few balls later when he miscued a googly to Sai Sudharsan at long-off. This was Rana’s third sub-20 score of the season.
This brought the in-form Sameer Rizvi to the middle, and he lasted all of one delivery as Rashid snuck through his inside-edge with a ripping googly to briefly elicit jitters in the DC camp. This is when Miller entered, before briefly exiting with seven overs left. But in the same over, when Rashid had Axar Patel slice one to Glenn Phillips running back from cover, GT started to have an opening.
On any other night, Rashid’s spell would have cracked open the game. The fact that DC were still in it despite these wickets was down to Rahul. It needed the skilful Siraj to dismiss him with DC needing 45 off three overs. By then, the pressure was telling.
That GT were eventually able to get over the line was down to their run cushion, made possible thanks to half-centuries from Jos Buttler, Gill and Washington Sundar. Buttler looked unshackled, hitting four sixes off his first 15 deliveries en route a bruising half-century, while Gill played himself in and then allayed fears of neck spasms during his takedown of Kuldeep with the slog sweep. Then Washington, promoted to No. 4, struck his maiden IPL fifty to shore up the innings.
Even so, GT managed just 49 off the last five. On another day, this may have proved to be costly. It didn’t on Wednesday, and for that, they have Rashid to thank.
Brief scores:
Gujarat Titans 210 for 4 in 20 overs (Sai Sudarshan 12, Shubman Gill 70, Jos Buttler 52, Washington Sundar 55, Glenn Phillips 14*; Mukesh Kumar 2-55, Lungi Ngidi 1-24, Kuldeep Yadav 1-42 ) beat Delhi Capitals 209 for 8 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 41, KL Rahul 92, David Miller 41*, Vipraj Nigam 12; Mohammed Siraj 1-42, Rashid Khan 3-17, Prasidh Krishna 2-52) by one run
[Cricinfo]
PSL 2026: Iftikhar’s all-round show seals last-ball win for Zalmi
BCCI curbs movement of benched IPL players in latest rules
Prasidh trumps Miller in last-ball finish as Gujarat Titans clinch thriller
Greece to ban social media for under-15s from next year
Showers will occur at a few places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya and Mannar districts after 2.00 p.m.
Sun directly overhead Chilaw, Bingiriya, Halmillawewa, Panduwasnuwara, Gokarella, Kawudupelella, Koppaveli and Kirankulam about 12:12 noon. today (09)
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
Features5 days agoRanjith Siyambalapitiya turns custodian of a rare living collection
-
News5 days agoGlobal ‘Walk for Peace’ to be held in Lanka
-
News3 days agoLankan-origin actress Subashini found dead in India
-
Features5 days agoBeyond the Blue Skies: A Tribute to Captain Elmo Jayawardena
-
Opinion7 days agoHidden truth of Sri Lanka’s debt story: The untold narrative behind the report
-
Features5 days agoAspects of Ceylon/Sri Lanka Foreign Relations – 1948 to 1976
-
Features7 days agoThe Ramadan War
-
Editorial6 days agoBrouhaha over a book