Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews was controversially timed out in a first for international cricket during a World Cup defeat to Bangladesh that ended his side’s slim semi-final hopes.
Mathews noticed the strap on his helmet was broken, called for a new piece of headwear, and was not ready to face his first delivery within the required two minutes after coming in at No 6 for Sri Lanka.
Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan appealed for the batter’s wicket and Mathews was subsequently given his marching orders by the on-field umpires in a remarkable moment during Monday’s match.
The MCC Laws say a batter must be ready to face the first delivery within three minutes but the ICC playing conditions for the Cricket World Cup - which supersede the MCC Laws - stipulate that it is two minutes.
With Shakib choosing not to withdraw his appeal, a fuming Mathews was dismissed, chucking his helmet to the floor in rage after leaving the pitch.
Mathews had appeared to tell Shakib that the delay only happened because of his helmet breaking but the Bangladesh skipper would not change his mind.
Sri Lanka went on to make 279 all out, a total already-eliminated Bangladesh topped with 54 balls to spare to win by three wickets and knock their opponents out of top-four contention.
Riding on brilliant innings from Najmul Shanto (90) and Shakib Al Hasan (82), Bangladesh raked up their second win of the World Cup campaign to stake a claim for the Champions Trophy 2025 spot.
Chasing a challenging total of 280 could have been a tricky task for the Bangladesh batters, especially after Madhushanka sent opener Tanzid Hasan back to the pavilion in the first over. However, dew came to Bangaldesh’s rescue and batting became much easier under the floodlights.
Among many narratives on play in the match, none was more intriguing than Shakib Al Hasan squaring up against Angelo Mathews. Earlier in the day, the Bangladesh skipper appealed for a ‘timed out’ dismissal which saw Mathews being adjudged out by the umpires after failing to face a ball within two minutes of the previous batter’s dismissal.
As such, fans were waiting for Mathews to bowl his gentle dibbly dobblers against Shakib. The Sri Lankan veteran nearly struck in the first over as the left-hand batter lofted a powerful drive to Charith Asalanka at short cover. However, the centurion of the first innings, spilled a relatively tough chance to give a reprieve to Shakib.
From thereon, both Shakib and Shanto did not let go of the initiative and strung a beautiful 169-run partnership to nearly bat Sri Lanka out of the contest.
Just when it looked like the game was done and dusted, Mathews revved up his engine and accounted for Shakib’s dismissal with the on-air commentators describing it as ‘poetic justice’. Mathews even gave a ‘time is up’ send off to Shakib by pointing to his watch and waiting for him to walk away.
Mathews did not stop here as he struck again in the next over to clean up Shanto and get the nerves jangling in the Bangladesh camp. Some poor shots from Mushifiqur Rahim and Mehidy Hasan Miraz meant the game got much closer than the subcontinent side had earlier anticipated.
However, Tanzim Sakib held his own and smashed the winning boundary to give two crucial points to the Bangladesh side at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Monday (Nov 6) evening.
--Agencies
