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'Don’t leave your crease': Fuming Starc warns SL batter for run out at non-striker's end in AUS World Cup tie - Watch
Nasser Hussain, on air, had spotted Starc informing the umpire about Kusal Perera's act in the previous two deliveries
In the wake of a stellar start from the two Sri Lanka openers, Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera, both of whom scored their respective half centuries, Australia's Mitchell Starc might have regreted having not dismissed the latter run out at the non-striker's end at the very start of the World Cup 2023 match at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. They later went on to stitch a 125-run stand to hand Sri Lanka the perfect start in the almost must-win game for either side with Perera notching up 78 off 82.
Despite 'run out at the non-striker's end' being a legitimate form of dismissal and well within the spirit of the game, players have often been reluctant in using this form of dismissal. In fact, Law 38.3, which pertains to the “Non-striker leaving his/her ground early,” states: “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 if he/she is out of his/her ground.”
Australia vs Sri Lanka Live Score, World Cup 2023
However, on Monday, in the fourth ball of the very first over, Starc merely left Perera with a warning despite the Sri Lanka batter being well outside the crease at the non-striker's end when the fast bowler had pulled up in his run up. After an unsuccessful review for an LBW chance in the first ball, Starc spotted Perera looking to get a head start in every other delivery and hence, instead of bowling the fourth delivery, he stopped and told the batter “don’t leave your crease” according to Nasser Hussain, who was in the commentary box.
The former England captain further added that he had spotted Starc informing the umpire about Perera's act in the previous two deliveries. He said: “After the first ball Starc had a little word with the umpire, Kusal Perera just leaving his crease... he was saying to Kusal Perera ‘don’t leave your crease’. That’s fair enough, he’s told the umpire now he’s told the batter, stay in your crease at that end... a very eventful first over.”
Starc, wary of Perera's act despite the warning, had stopped once again in the final ball of the fifth over, but this time the batter was seemingly inside the crease.
This wasn't the first time Starc refrained from running out a batter at the non-striker's end. Last December, in the home Test series against South Africa, he had warned batter Theunis de Bruyn against leaving the crease early during the second Test in Melbourne
