Australia vs Sri Lanka, World Cup 2023: Mitchell Starc gives Kusal Perera warning for run-out at bowlers' end; Watch

Sri Lanka batter Kusal Perera was at the receiving end of things when he seemingly stepped out of the crease  during Australia pacer Mitchell Starc’s run up when the two teams faced off in a 2023 World Cup clash in Lucknow on Monday.

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Kusal Perera went onto build a 125-run stand with Pathum Nissanka for the first wicket after Sri Lanka had opted to bat, but things could have been a lot different had Starc gone ahead with the “run-out” dismissal at the non-strikers’ end.

Instead, in the fourth ball of the first over, when Starc noticed Perera stepping out of the crease during his run-up, the Aussie pacer gave Perera a couple of warnings rather than actually running him out.

This came just moments after an unsuccessful LBW review from Australia in the first ball of the match. According to commentator Nasser Hussain, who was on air at the time, Starc stopped his runup midway through, and warned Perera by saying, “don’t leave the crease”.

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“After the first ball Starc had a little word with the umpire, Kusal Perera just leaving his crease… he was saying to Kusal Perera ‘don’t leave your crease’. That’s fair enough, he’s told the umpire now he’s told the batter, stay in your crease at that end… a very eventful first over,” Nasser Hussain added.

In the last ball of the fifth over, Starc once again stopped midway through, as he thought Perera was out of the crease. However, on this occasion, the Lankan batter seemed well and truly in the crease.

According to the Marylebone Cricket Club’s Law 38.3, regarding the “Non-striker leaving his/her ground early," it states that: “At any time from the moment the ball comes into play until the instant when the bowler would normally have been expected to release the ball, the non-striker is liable to be Run out if he/she is out of his/her ground.”

Earlier, Sri Lanka had won the toss and opted to bat. Bith Kusal Perera and Pathum Nissanka scored fifties before the Lankans lost wickets at regular intervals. At the time of writing this report, Sri Lanka were 207/9 in 42.4 overs.