Piers Morgan has slammed the controversial ending to England's one day international defeat to India as 'pathetic'. India secured victory over the hosts at Lords in the final game of the summer, but it was not without drama.
The match was coming to an exciting end with England needing 17 runs from 39 runs, and India needing just one wicket to clinch the win. It was the latter who secured the victory, however, the winning wicket was a contentious one as Charlie Dean was 'mankaded' by Deepti Sharma leaving the English star in tears.
Dean looked set to guide England home, after racking up an impressive 47 runs from 80 balls despite coming to the crease at No. 9 with her team in all sorts of trouble.
The 21-year-old was left heartbroken at the finish though, as she was ran out by Sharma at the non-striker's end as the Indian spinner was set to bowl at Dean's partner Freya Davies. As the visitors peeled away to sheepishly celebrate, Dean was left in tears as she was embraced by Davies.
Unsurprisingly the dismissal sparked huge debate within the cricketing world, including from avid fan Morgan. Taking to Twitter, he slammed the run-out, writing: "Absolutely pathetic way to 'win' a cricket match. The whole India team should be ashamed of themselves."
The mankad was also slammed by a number of the England men's squad, as wicketkeeper Sam Billings tweeted: "There’s surely not a person who has played the game that thinks this is acceptable? Just not cricket…
"Well within the laws but not in the spirit. Just my opinion… the law should be changed back to a warning system or penalty runs for excessive backing up." England's famed opening bowling pair James Anderson and Stuart Broad also weighed into the debate on social media.
What are your thoughts on the controversial dismissal? Let us know in the comments section below.
Anderson responded to Billings: "Spot on. No intention of bowling the ball," whilst Broad went on to add: "I find the debate of the Mankad really interesting. So many views from either side. I personally wouldn’t like to win a match like that, also, very happy for others to feel differently."
Sharma's actions were defended by her captain Harmanpreet Kaur who reiterated that the dismissal is well within the laws of the game. She said: "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."
