OMAN and Hong Kong aren’t the first two countries that spring to mind when the term “cricketing powerhouse” is mentioned, but their match has still caused quite a stir. Playing in an Asia Cup qualifying match — part of a process to determine who will join India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the full tournament that begins tomorrow — Oman bowler Aamir Kaleem earned the ire of Hong Kong coach Simon Cook.
The left arm spinner “Mankad-ed” Hong Kong batsman Mark Chapman in the ninth over of his team’s pursuit of Oman’s 5-180. He pulled out of his delivery stride and under-armed the ball into the stumps with Chapman clearly out of his ground, leaving the umpire with no choice but to give him out when Oman upheld their appeal.
Cook was furious Kaleem had blatantly disregarded the spirit of the game. “Ultimately I think it’s a cowardly way out really,” Cook said. “If you’re battling man against man out in the middle and you choose to go down that route to get a wicket and win the game, it’s not in the spirit of cricket and a pretty cowardly option.
“It’s disappointing for the game. For me, yes it’s in the laws, you can do it legally but I think it goes against the spirit of the game when you’re not at least warning someone.
“I can see exactly why the MCC brought the laws in, but I think within the spirit of the game you should at least give the batsman a fair warning you might do that.”
Kaleem did not warn the batsman beforehand about wandering out of his crease, widely considered a prerequisite before going on to Mankad someone.
The Mankad is named after Indian bowler Vinoo Mankad, who created controversy when he dismissed Australian batsman Bill Brown in a similar manner at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1947.
Hong Kong lost another wicket two balls after Chapman’s controversial dismissal, which occurred when they were 2-77, and their chase unravelled from there. They lost by five runs.
Although they lost, batsman Babar Hayat smashed an incredible 122 from 60 balls.
This Mankad follows a similar incident at the Under-19 World Cup earlier in the month. The West Indies were roundly criticised after Keemo Paul dismissed Zimbabwe’s Richard Ngarava via the unconventional method in the final over of their match when Zimbabwe needed three runs to win with one wicket in hand.
That win knocked Zimbabwe out of the tournament and sealed the Windies’ place in the last eight. They went on to win the tournament, beating India by five wickets in the final. -news.com.au