Sheffield Shield 2020-21: Mitchell Starc fires Mankad warning to Australia teammate Marnus Labuschagne

Mankad or rather the mode of dismissal in which a bowler dismisses a player at the non-striker’s end for walking out of the crease even before the ball is bowled is set to become the talk of the town once again thanks to an incident that took place during the ongoing Sheffield Shield clash between New South Wales and Queensland.

The rare mode of dismissal, which is very much legal but is widely considered against the spirit of the game, has been one of the major topics in the cricket world since the IPL started. Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting had asked Ravichandran Ashwin not to Mankad any player in the ongoing edition and his statement drew a different kind of reaction.

Earlier this month, Ashwin added fuel to the fire by not dismissing Aaron Finch despite the batsman being well out of the crease, much to the surprise of many. And on Friday, a similar sight was witnessed when Australia pace spearhead warned Marnus Labuschagne for walking out of the crease before the ball was bowled.

Just before bowling the fifth ball of the 48th over, Starc pulled out of his delivery stride and fired a warning to his international teammate, who was bemused at the warning. Starc did have the opportunity to dislodge the bail and sent back Labuschagne but he let his Australia teammate off the hook with just a warning.

Labuschagne, however, was not impressed with the NSW pacer’s action and was seen making his displeasure clear. Starc was not ready to back down either as he was seen saying something to the batsman too before walking back to his delivery mark.

Here is a clip of the incident:

A warning from Mitch Starc to Marnus Labuschagne 🙊 #SheffieldShield pic.twitter.com/iGGQU7lItP

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) October 30, 2020

Queensland in a strong position

As far as the match is concerned, Queensland were 217 for 4 at the end of 70 overs. NSW won the toss and elected to bowl but failed to make early inroads. They could take only one wicket in the first session when Harry Conway sent back Bryce Street for 22 after making him edge one to Nick Larkin at third slip. In the second session, NSW had two quick wickets when Sean Abbott accounted for Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja to leave Queensland reeling at 99 for 3.

16 runs later, Starc sent back Matt Renshaw before Labuschagne and Jimmy Peirson steadied the ship with an unbeaten century-plus stand. At stumps on Day 1, Queensland scored 274/7 with Labuschagne scoring 117 runs.