Mankad mars a thriller
The West Indies found themselves a place in the last eight of the ICC Under-19 World Cup yesterday when they edged past Zimbabwe by two runs. The win helped them finish second in Group C behind England. Despite the fact that it was a closely-fought contest, what garnered the majority of the attention after the match was the manner in which the boys from the Caribbean secured the victory.
Zimbabwe, chasing the West Indies' 226 for nine, began the last over needing just three runs to win with one wicket in hand amid mounting tension in Chittagong.
But West Indies seamer Keemo Paul whipped off the bails before sending down the first ball, catching non-striker Richard Ngarava slightly out of his crease. The decision was referred to the TV umpire who declared Ngarava run-out.
The last-wicket incident proved an anti-climax to what had been an absorbing do-or-die contest between two valiant teams attempting to nail a quarterfinal berth.
This of course isn't the first case where a batsman was seen mankaded in the Under-19 World Cup. Back in 2012, Soumya Sarkar, who now plays for the Bangladesh national team, had mankaded Australia's Jimmy Peirson in the quarterfinal of the competition in Townsville.
Paul's move elicited plenty of reactions, most which were against the act. England national player Eoin Morgan described it act as disgraceful and embarrassing on Twitter. Australian coach Darren Lehman tweeted: "Unbelievable, not out."
Sharing a similar sentiment, South Africa's Alviro Peterson tweeted saying: "I can't support what just happened in the U-19 World Cup. Perhaps a decision taken without thought."
On the other hand, West Indian pacer Tino Best and Indian commentator Harsha Bhogle supported the move.
"Amazed that the spirit of the game never comes up when batsmen hit the ball and stay on but does when a bowler mankads a batsman,” Bhogle wrote on Twitter.
The West Indies will take on the winner of Wednesday's last league match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the fourth quarterfinal in Fatullah on 8 February.
Meanwhile, South Africa finished third in the group after a 10-wicket rout of Scotland in Cox's Bazar, the first win in the tournament for skipper Tony de Zorzi's men.
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