Devine left bemused by Mankad dismissal

White Ferns skipper Sophie Devine would be unimpressed if any of her teams executed the controversial ‘‘Mankad’’ dismissal, but expects it to become more common.

The rare form of run out has sparked heated debate in recent days, following the third women’s ODI between England and India at Lord’s on Sunday.

Indian bowler Deepti Sharma ran out England’s Charlie Dean, who was backing up too far at the non-striker’s end, to conclude the match and secure a 3-0 series whitewash.

While the Mankad dismissal, named after Indian cricketer Vinoo Mankad, the first person to get someone out that way in 1947, is within the laws of the game, it is not considered in the spirit of cricket by many.

Speaking ahead of the first T20 against the West Indies in Antigua this morning, Devine said the dismissal had been a talking point among the White Ferns squad.

She didn’t endorse the dismissal, but acknowledged it was a fair way to get someone out.

‘‘Personally, it’s not something I’d probably do in the teams that I lead, but you’ve got to look at it for what it is.

‘‘It’s a legitimate dismissal and fair play to India and Deepti Sharma for going with it. It’s in the rules of cricket and it’s going to be something which draws out a fair bit of conversation.’’

Devine applauded the Indian and English sides for the way they handled the bizarre end to the match. India captain Harmanpreet Kaur fully backed Sharma, ‘‘which is all you can really ask’’, while England were respectful, despite the disappointment.

In the International Cricket Council’s revised playing conditions, which come into effect on Saturday, the Mankad dismissal will move from the ‘Unfair play’ section of the rules to the ‘Run out’ section. ‘‘Running out a nonstriker for backing up too much will now be considered as a regular run out,’’ the ICC said.

Devine could only recall a Mankad dismissal once in a match she was playing in – executed by former White Ferns team-mate Frankie Mackay for Canterbury against Wellington. ‘‘She’s a sly old fox, Frankie. She knows every rule under the sun.’’

Devine supported batters being given an initial warning if they were dashing out of the crease before the ball had left the bowler’s hand. If they did it again, the bowler was well within their right to run them out.

With the ICC’S imminent change to the playing conditions and the law moving to the ‘‘Run out’’ section, she believed it could happen more often in matches.

‘‘Potentially it could become more common, but you’d hope as well batters have a bit more sense with leaving the crease early.

‘‘That’s what you want, isn’t it, a fair game? You want people that aren’t sneaking a couple of extra metres and things like that.’’

Devine had played against Sharma, an offspinner, on several occasions and said she had been known to stop in her run up and ‘‘baulk you a little bit’’, so she wasn’t surprised by the incident.

‘‘If it was me personally, I’d go down the path of a warning [for the batter]. Each team, each individual, is going to go about it differently, so it could be interesting to see if this does spark a rise in the Mankad.’’