Angelo Mathews ‘Timed Out’ for first time in international cricket

Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews has made unfortunate cricketing history, becoming the first player to be timed out at the international level.

Mathews was coming into bat with Sri Lanka 135-4 after 24.2 overs against Bangladesh, but due to a helmet issue was slow to take the crease.

While the 12th man ran to retrieve a new helmet, time continued to tick by - and well over three minutes after the previous wicket, Mathews and the umpires were still in discussions.

As per the rules, a new batsman has to be ready to face the ball within three minutes. Mathews was out on the field but there was some issue with his helmet. The star all-rounder wasn’t ready to bat due to the issue with his gear.

Bangladesh decided to appeal against Mathews and the umpire had no option but to adjudge him out. The on-field umpires can only give a batsman out if the opposition players appeal. Mathews would have stayed in the middle had Bangladesh decided to withdraw the appeal. He is the first player to be given Timed Out in international cricket.

It has happened only six times before in any format, all in first-class cricket.

Mathews walked back to the pavilion without facing a delivery. His wicket left Sri Lanka reeling at 135/5. Dhananjaya de Silva has joined Charith Asalanka in the middle.

Earlier, Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bowl first. They got an early scalp of Kusal Perera, who managed a score of 4. Pathum Nissanka took the onus after the fall of early wicket and added 61 runs for the second wicket with Kusal Mendis (19).

Sadeera Samarawickrama also played a crucial knock of 41 before getting out. It was after his dismissal that Mathews came out to join Asalanka. But he ended up getting dismissed without facing any delivery.

With just 2 wins from seven matches, Sri Lanka are placed at the seventh spot in the points table. They are in contention to qualify for the semi-final. With just one win from seven matches, Bangladesh are at the ninth spot. They have crashed out of the tournament.