Angelo Mathews blasted Bangladesh for the appeal that made him the first batter to be timed out in international cricket during the World Cup on Monday.
Mathews was not ready to face his first ball within two minutes as per tournament rules. His helmet strap broke and more than three minutes elapsed before he received a replacement helmet.
Bangladesh and captain Shakib al-Hasan appealed for the Sri Lanka veteran to be timed out and the on-field umpires Marais Erasmus and Richard Illingworth agreed.
Photo: AFP
Mathews was livid as he walked off the field. Sri Lanka would lose by three wickets and be eliminated from semi-final contention.
“I don’t know where the common sense went, because it’s obviously disgraceful from Shakib and Bangladesh,” Mathews said. “If they want to play cricket like that, obviously stooped out to that level, I think there’s something wrong drastically.”
“I’m not talking about, mankading or obstructing the field here. It’s just pure common sense and bringing the game into disrepute. It’s absolutely disgraceful,” he added.
Mathews said the umpires later told the Sri Lanka coaches they did not see the strap coming off the helmet just when he was about to face his first delivery against Shakib.
Mathews, at first did not believe he was timed out, and argued with the umpires while pointing toward the broken helmet strap. He also had words with Shakib, who did not withdraw his appeal.
When Mathews crossed the boundary, he threw his helmet and bat in anger.
Shakib said Mathews asked him if he would withdraw the appeal.
“I said, you know: ‘I understand your situation.’ It was unfortunate, but I don’t want to,” Shakib said.
Before Bangladesh chased down the 280 target for the loss of seven wickets, Sri Lanka players including captain Kusal Mendis exchanged tense words on the field with the Bangladesh batters. Mathews defended his teammates’ decision not to shake hands with the Bangladesh players after the tense game.
“You need to respect people who respect us,” Mathews said. Mathews said the Sri Lanka management had video evidence to support his claim he was at the crease within two minutes, and he still had five seconds before the strap of his helmet came off.
Fourth umpire Adrian Holdstock said during the innings break that Mathews was not ready to receive the ball within two minutes, even before the strap broke.
“If you ask the question from him now,” Mathews said. “He would have a different answer because we have video evidence.”
“It’s quite laughable,” Mathews said.
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