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In the ODI World Cup 2023 match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh on Monday, Angelo Mathews faced a rare “timed out” dismissal during the 25th over of Sri Lanka’s innings. The incident transpired shortly after Shakib Al Hasan claimed the wicket of Sadeera Samarawickrama, who was caught by Mahmudullah near the boundary rope.
Mathews, taking his time to enter the field at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, encountered trouble with his helmet, as the strap broke just as he was about to take guard. Motioning for a replacement helmet from the dressing room, Mathews found himself in the midst of a contentious situation when Shakib and his teams appealed for a “timed out” dismissal.
Despite Mathews engaging in a discussion with both the Bangladesh team and the umpires, the appeal stood, prompting Mathews to leave the field in evident dismay. This rare and unexpected turn of events has since generated considerable discussion among cricket experts, highlighting the intricacies and nuances of the game at the highest level.
Shakib Al Hasan stands firm with his appeal
After Bangladesh’s maiden victory over Sri Lanka in the history of ICC Men’s ODI World Cup, Shakib stated that he was well within his rights to appeal for the ‘timed-out’ dismissal.
“One of our fielders came to me and said, if you appeal, the law says he’s out because he hasn’t taken his guard within the time frame,” said Shakib in the post-match press conference.
“So, then I appealed to the umpires, who asked me If I was going to call him back or not. I said I won’t call him back.
“I know him very well; he knows me very well,” added Shakib.
“So, he came and asked me whether if I withdraw my appeal or not If I want to, I said, you know, I understand your situation. It was unfortunate, but I don’t want to.
“It was in the rules that a batter has to come to the crease within that certain period of time and he wasn’t there at that time,” added the Bangladesh skipper.
Also READ: Gautam Gambhir, Dale Steyn and others react to Angelo Mathews’ controversial dismissal – BAN v SL, ODI World Cup 2023
Angelo Mathews disagrees with Shakib’s remarks
Responding to Shakib, the Sri Lankan veteran Mathews said he was ready to face the ball before the timer had run out.
“I have two minutes to get to the crease and get myself ready, which I did,” explained Mathews in the post-match interview..
“And then it was an equipment malfunction. And I don’t know where the common sense went, because obviously it’s disgraceful from Shakib and Bangladesh.
“If they want to play cricket like that, I think there’s something wrong drastically. I still had five more seconds to go after my helmet broke off,” Mathews added.
The 36-year-old further mentioned that he was given out at a crucial moment in the game.
“I wasn’t trying to waste time. I wasn’t trying to get advantage of anything. It was just pure equipment malfunction.
“And it just happened for the very first time in my career. And I’m absolutely shocked. I’m not going to say that if I had batted today, we would have won the match. I’m not saying that.
“I mean, I’m just talking about that incident where, obviously, it was a crucial time of the match. And we could have gone either way. I mean, we could have got 54, 60 runs more as well.”
