Angelo Mathews is returning after a rare outing against Bangladesh. Photo: AFPThe incident happened after Sadira returned to Samarawickrama after being victimized by Shakib Al Hasan. New batsman Angelo Mathews came to the wicket. And then Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan drew the attention of the umpire. The entire Bangladesh team along with him then made the application.
Mathews entered the field at the appointed time. As per MCC rules, the next ball must be played within 3 minutes of a batter being out. But according to the ICC playing conditions, it has to be played within 2 minutes. Mathews came to the wicket within 2 minutes but could not play the ball.
Matthews was repeatedly pointing to his helmet trying to explain it took a while to get it right. At that time, he had two helmets. On his way to the wicket, Mathews realized that his helmet strap was torn. As he gestured to the dressing room, additional players entered the field with new helmets. Mathews was late in playing his first ball during this helmet change.
Umpire Maurice Erasmus appealed to Shakib as he was well aware of the late rule. Lankan batter out as per rules. And that’s when international cricket saw ‘timed out’ for the first time. Neither the bowler nor the fielder will have any credit for this wicket fall. The ICC official scorers in the press box said, 3:49 minutes to 3:54 minutes—the time between the dismissals of Samarawickrama and Mathews. Meanwhile, Shakib and his team appealed to the umpire. Mathews also tried to stay on the wicket. Then the experienced Lankan batsman returned to the dressing room in Gujarat. Interestingly, two Sri Lankan batsmen were dismissed in the same ball (24.2 overs).
In the past few years, Bangladesh-Sri Lanka matches have had some scandals or exceptions. Such an incident happened in Delhi today, which is rare in the history of cricket.
