Veteran Sri Lankan all-rounder Angelo Mathews clarified to a journalist, who questioned him about the Spirit of cricket following his 'timed out' dismissal during the 2023 World Cup clash against Bangladesh in Delhi. With the journalist reminding how Mathews didn't withdraw the appeal for running Jos Buttler out at the non-striker's end, the former captain stated that he warned him twice.
The non-striker's run-out incident occurred in the 2014 ODI series between England and Sri Lanka when spinner Sachitra Senanayake dismissed Buttler for backing up too far. Senanayake reportedly warned him twice, with the umpires asking then captain Mathews whether he want to proceed with the dismissal to which the all-rounder said yes.
Angelo Mathews expresses outrage over timed out dismissal against Bangladesh:
Tensions boiled over immensely after Bangladesh skipper Shakib al Hasan appealed for timeout after Mathews strode to crease and signaled for other helmet due to the broken strap. Umpires withheld the appeal and a frustrated Mathews had to walk back to the pavilion.
Speaking at a presser, he 35-year-old slammed the disgraceful actions by Shakib, suggesting that he would avoid stooping down to such a low any day. As quoted by ESPN Cricinfo, he stated:
"It was obviously disgraceful from Shakib and Bangladesh. If they want to take wickets like that and stoop down to that level, there's something wrong, drastically. It's very disappointing way that Bangladesh played. If it was mankading or obstructing the field, there's no issue."
"Within two minutes I was at the crease, and it was when I was at the crease that my helmet broke. The umpires saw this. I still had five seconds left. After I showed my helmet, the umpires said [Bangladesh] had appealed. So I asked where common sense was because my two minutes hadn't passed."
Bangladesh managed to chase down the target of 280 and knock Bangladesh out of the 2023 World Cup.
