Shakib Al Hasan has triggered a debate on the spirit of cricket before smashing a rapid 82 in their three-wicket victory against Sri Lanka, who were thus eliminated from the 50-overs World Cup.
The Bangladesh skipper successfully appealed to have Sri Lankan veteran Angelo Mathews ‘timed out’ without facing a ball at a crucial stage of the match, the first such dismissal in international cricket.
“It is obviously disgraceful from Shakib and Bangladesh,” said Mathews afterwards. “If they want to play cricket like that and stoop down to that level, there’s something wrong, drastically. Up to today I had the utmost respect for him and the Bangladesh team.”
Shakib collaborated in a 169-run stand with Najmul Hossain Shanto (90) to help Bangladesh chase down a 280-run victory target in 41.1 overs on Monday.
Charith Asalanka’s 108 underpinned Sri Lanka’s 279 all out but his feat as overshadowed by the controversial dismissal.
Sri Lanka had lost Kusal Perera in the first over but Pathum Nissanka (41) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (41) added 63 for the fourth wicket and they were 4-135 in the 25th over when Mathews walked in.
As he prepared to take guard he found the chinstrap of his helmet broken, removed the helmet, and gestured for a replacement.
Under the tournament’s playing conditions, a new batter should be ready to face the ball within two minutes and while Mathews was waiting for team mate Chamika Karunaratne to bring the new helmet Shakib appealed.
Mathews remonstrated with umpires Marais Erasmus and Richard Illingworth before leaving the pitch shaking his had in dismay. He threw his helmet soon after crossing the boundary.
Shakib stood by his decision, insisting that it was within the rules of the game. He said in a post-match interview: “One of our fielders came to me and said that if I appealed, he would be out.
“The umpire asked me if I was serious. It’s in the laws, I don’t know if it’s right or wrong.”
Smiling, Shakib continued: “I felt like I was at war. Whatever I had to do, I did it. There will be debates. Today that (the time out) helped, I won’t deny that.”
Asalanka subsequently smashed five sixes and six fours in his second ODI century but Sri Lanka’s total was under par.
Bangladesh lost both openers inside seven overs but Shakib and Shanto put their chase back on track.
Mathews denied Shakib a hundred, and tapped his wrist in a send-off as if to tell the Bangladesh captain it was his time to go.
Shanto missed out on a hundred too but Sri Lanka still succumbed to their sixth defeat in eight matches.
Left-arm fast bowler Dilshan Madushanka picked up 3-69 to be the leading wicket-taker of the World Cup with 21 wickets but that was little consolation to him.
There have been six previous cases in first-class cricket of a batter being timed out, the most recent in 2017. They include cases such as a batter being unable to be at the ground due to flight delays or flooded roads.
