‘For Mathews’ out spirit of cricket

History has witnessed such an outing for the first time. There was a long discussion about this in the commentary room.

The incident happened in the 25th over of the Bangladesh-Sri Lanka match in the World Cup. Angelo Mathews came to the crease after Sadira Samarawickrama got out.

But he had doubts about the helmet with which he came down. Later another helmet was brought, but that too was not satisfied. Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan applied to the umpire according to section 40.1.1 of the MCC Act.

The rule states, ‘After a batter is out or retired, he or another batter must be ready to face the next ball within 3 minutes. Otherwise, the batsman who is getting down, will be time out. ‘

The umpire responded to Shakib’s request as per the rules. Because by then almost five minutes had passed. Mathews could not be happy with such a decision. He threw the helmet while returning to the dressing room. Later, Asalanka, who scored a century for the Lankans, reacted to this.

After Mathews’ out, Mathews made a partnership of 78 runs from 82 balls with Dhananjaya de Silva. Presenter Sanjay Manjekar wants to know about this pair made under pressure during the innings break. Asalanka then said, ‘Yes, Mathews’ out is not good for the spirit of cricket. Anyway, it’s in the rules of cricket. Then Dhananjaya came and formed a good pair. This is how we build the foundation. ‘

‘I love pairing up with Dhananjaya. He is right handed and I am left handed. And he always runs fast, which is very important for me. I always like pairing with him. ‘

In response to the question whether 280 runs given by Sri Lanka would be enough, Ashalanka said, ‘When I was batting, the target was to score three hundred runs. But unfortunately I couldn’t bat till the end. Not even three hundred runs were scored. But I think it is enough run. ‘

Bangladesh time: 1847 hours, November 6, 2023
MHB