The Caribbean Premier League game between Guyana Amazon Warriors and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots had an interesting moment when Dwayne Bravo shunned an opportunity to effect a run out at the non-striker’s end.

In the final over of the Guyana innings, Bravo ran in to bowl at Ashmead Nedd but pulled out halfway through his bowling action after he noticed Hafeez trying to steal a few extra yards at the non-striker’s end.

Hafeez was so far out of his crease that Bravo could have easily turned around and run him out. Instead, the West Indian chose to share a first bump and a hug with the Pakistani all-rounder, laughing off the incident much to the surprise of viewers.

When Hafeez finally managed to gain strike in the fourth ball of the over, he clubbed Bravo for two fours back-to-back, taking 10 runs in all in the last three balls. Hafeez went from 28 off 28 balls to finish on 38 not out off 31 balls, taking Guyana to a reasonable total of 146-8.

The incident had little bearing on the final result, though, as St Kitts and Nevis Patriots strolled home with eight wickets and seven balls to spare. The official CPL handle chose to label Bravo’s act as a “definition of great sportsmanship”.

Post the game, Hafeez took to Twitter to appreciate Bravo’s gesture, lauding him for playing the game in the “right spirit”.

The run out of a non-striker before the ball is delivered, often referred to as a ‘mankad’, pertains to Law 41.16 in the MCC – “Non-striker leaving his/her ground early”

If the non-striker is out of his/her ground from the moment the ball comes into play to the instant when the bowler would normally have been expected to release the ball, the bowler is permitted to attempt to run him/her out. Whether the attempt is successful or not, the ball shall not count as one in the over.

If the bowler fails in an attempt to run out the non-striker, the umpire shall call and signal Dead ball as soon as possible.

While it is a legitimate dismissal, there have been several instances of players refusing to run batsmen out in this manner, citing it is against the spirit of the game. Hafeez himself had an opportunity to do the same in an ODI against England in 2019 when Joe Root was out of his crease as the off-spinner walked in to bowl. Instead of running Root out, Hafeez went back to his mark to continue bowling.

Watch the incident here:

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Dwayne BravoMohammad HafeezCaribbean Premier League 2021Global T20 LeaguesSeries Editorial