Achini Kulasuriya says she chose not to Mankad out of spirit of the game

By Bipin Dani

Sri Lanka’s right-arm slow medium pacer Achini Kulasuriya didn’t do what India’s Deepti Sharma did a few weeks ago.

On Thursday, the 32-year old Kulasuriya had a chance to run out the non-striker Aliya Riaz, who had left the crease even before the second delivery of the last over of the T20 Asia Cup semi-final against Pakistan was bowled.

Kulasuriya however, avoided Mankading her opponent.

Kulasuriya said, “I didn’t try to Mankad because I just wanted to maintain the spirit of this great game of cricket. Yes, it was a crucial moment and the match could have gone either way. But I just keep faith in my ability.”

She even didn’t feel it necessary to warn the non-striker.

“I kept focusing on the striker. As a fast bowler, it’s not that easy to do that. And, also it’s something that makes me tired”.

On being asked to bowl the final over of the match, Kulasuriya said, “I just looked at the faces of my teammates. They were keen to have this win, even myself. I was prepared for this kind of exciting finish situation. I felt no pressure. I just followed the batsmen.”