South Africa romped to victory over India in the ICC T20I World Cup 2022 in Australia by five wickets after successfully chasing down the target of 133 set by the men in blue.
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In a game that went down to the wire as the Proteas wrapped up things with a couple of deliveries to spare, but, one of the most interesting moments of the match came during Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s over.
Ashwin, a long-time advocate of the infamous method of dismissal at the non-striker’s end, now deemed an absolutely legal means of dismissal, let South Africa’s David Miller off with a warning after the Protea batsman was spotted leaving his crease before the delivery was bowled.
Ashwin didn’t mankad Miller pic.twitter.com/nkDyvEdgoS— Div (@div_yumm) October 30, 2022
Ashwin triggered a huge debate back in the year 2019 when he ran Jos Butler out at the non-striker’s end after the Englishman left his crease even before the Indian spinner released the ball from his hands.
He has been outspoken about batsmen ‘stealing a yard or so’ by starting their run even before the ball has been released from the bowler’s hand and had also gone to the lengths of stating that, if the bowlers were permitted to overstep the crease (deemed a no-ball) they could generate more speed and gain better lengths to bowl at.
It came as a surprise that such an outspoken exponent of the dismissal let things slide at an important stage of a big game.
Miller went on to score a measured 59 off 46 deliveries, which included 4 fours and 3 sixers as he lead his team to their second straight win in the tournament following their rout of Bangladesh.
The team from the African continent now sit atop the group 2 table with 5 points from 3 games, after their first game of the tournament, against Zimbabwe, was washed out.
On the other hand, India stand second in the group with four points from three games, having won their two previous games against Pakistan and The Netherlands prior to their loss against the South African unit.
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