England cricketer Charlie Dean has been left in tears after she was 'mankaded' by Indian bowler Deepti Sharma to give the visiting team a controversial victory at Lords. England needed just 17 runs from 39 deliveries to win the game, before Dean was dismissed at the non-striker's end.
The 'mankad' dismissal no doubt splits opinion in the world of cricket, and this incident has proven no different. England star Amy Jones said: "We're not happy with the result. We bowled really well and we just needed a bigger partnership through the middle.
"The last dismissal divides opinion, I'm not a fan but obviously it depends how India feel about that, I guess.
"It's in the rules, hopefully it doesn't take the shine off what was a good summer and a good series in the end." Jones also had high praise for the devastated teammate Dean following the contentious ending.
She went on: "I think she was brilliant, she really absorbed the pressure and knuckled down, I'm not sure she looked like getting out any other way. She looked really good out there and I'm really pleased for her. "
Following the criticism, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur has defended Sharma's choice of dismissal, outlining that the 'mankad' is well within the rules of the game. "Well to be honest I thought you'd ask about the first ten wickets because they weren't easy to take, but it's part of the game.
"I don't think we've done something new, it's an ICC rule. I think you have to be aware of what batters are doing, I will back my players and I don't think she's done something that wasn't in ICC rules, it's part of the game, and I think at the end of the day, a win is a win."
The wording of the controversial dismissal per the MCC law states: "If the non-striker is out of his/her ground at any time from the moment the ball comes into play until the instant when the bowler would normally have been expected to release the ball, the non-striker is liable to be Run out.
"In these circumstances, the non-striker will be out Run out if he/she is out of his/her ground when his/her wicket is put down by the bowler throwing the ball at the stumps or by the bowler's hand holding the ball, whether or not the ball is subsequently delivered."
The controversial ending was unsurprisingly poorly received by the crowd at the Home of Cricket, with England fans booing India's decision to run-out Dean at the non-striker's end.
