Angelo Mathews became part of cricket history on Monday as the former Sri Lanka captain became the first batter in international cricket to be ‘timed out’. The incident happened in Delhi during Sri Lanka’s match against Bangladesh. After Sadeera Samarawickrama had just lost his wicket, Mathews took his time striding out to the crease and arrived to take strike after the stipulated two-minute mark. Time further passed as he suffered an issue with his helmet strap. Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan appealed for the time out and the umpires obliged. Gambhir took to X, formerly Twitter to express his views on the entire incident.
However, it was former India captain Sourav Ganguly who could have been timed out back in 2007.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly escaped being timed-out when he had to rush onto the pitch after the fall of a wicket during a Test match against South Africa in 2007. India had lost a wicket and with next batsman Sachin Tendulkar not allowed to take the field owing the time he had spent off the pitch, and VVS Laxman taking a shower, the onus to come out fell on Ganguly, who was still in his tracksuit.
The timed-out rule in Tests was three minutes but Proteas skipper Graeme Smith did not appeal and waited patiently for Ganguly to stride out despite exceeding the time limit.
On January 5, 2007, Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly nearly made history by being the first player to be declared ‘timed out’ in international cricket. He took six minutes to reach the batting crease. However, Graeme Smith, the opposing team’s captain, chose not to enforce this… pic.twitter.com/JMhhs5Yaa5
— Anjula Hettige (@AnjulaHettige) November 6, 2023
Charith Asalanka’s century went in vain as Bangladesh defeated Sri Lanka by three wickets in an inconsequential match of the World Cup in Delhi on Monday. Sent in to bat, middle-order batter Asalanka scored a 105-ball 108, while opener Pathum Nissanka and Sadeera Samarawickrama made identical scores of 41 runs each to help Sri Lanka post 279 all out in 49.3 overs in a contest between teams which are out of semifinal contention.
Bangladesh scored the required runs in 41.1 overs for the loss of seven wickets.
The Sri Lankan innings was marred by an incident where Angelo Mathews became the first international cricketer to be ‘timed out’ after not being ready to face the ball within two minutes of the fall of a wicket.
The 36-year-old walked out to bat after the dismissal of Samarawickrama but had some issues with his helmet strap and signalled for a replacement, prompting Bangladesh to appeal for a ‘time out’.
Mathews was seen having a animated discussion with the umpires but the Sri Lankan was asked to leave the field.
Later, Najmul Hossain Shanto (90) and skipper Shakib Al Hasan (82) shared 161 runs for the third wicket to lay the foundation for the win, reaching 282 for 7 in 41.1 overs.
Dilshan Madushanka (3/69) was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka, while Angelo Mathews (2/35) returned with two wickets, including the scalp of Shakib.
With PTI inputs
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