This is class from Isuru Udana 👏pic.twitter.com/RZX5yutA23
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) December 8, 2019
Sri Lankan bowler Isuru Udana has been praised for an amazing act of sportsmanship in his side’s T20 match in South Africa.
With the game on the line, the Sri Lankan quick showed his true class with a fine gesture for a stricken opponent in the Mzansi Super League.
Udana’s Paarl Rocks were desperate to stop the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants scoring the 24 runs they needed for victory off the final eight balls of the match.
However, the Sri Lankan proved that respect for his opponent was more important than a ‘win-at-all-costs’ mentality.
A full-blooded drive from Heino Kuhn left the batsman at the non-strikers end - Marco Marais - with no chance of getting out of the way.
Marais lay in a heap in the middle of the pitch after being struck by the ball - stranded well outside his crease.
Udana regathered the ball that ricocheted off the unfortunate batsman but, rather than run out the injured Marais, he allowed his opponent to scurry back into his crease.
“What a spirit of cricket that is,” one commentator exclaimed.
“He can run him out, he’s on the floor but he (Udana) says ‘no’“.
The wonderful moment drew an outpouring of praise from viewers on social media.
Marais recovered from the blow to smash a late six but the Giants’ chase proved in vain as Paarl Rocks hung on to win by 12 runs.
Source: Yahoo Sport Australia
