WC 2023: Entertainment in World Cup 2023 as Angelo Mathews Faces Unique Dismissal While Bangladesh Dominate Sri Lanka
New Delhi, 6th November 2023: The 38th match of the ICC ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 took place at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, featuring Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In a pretty much 1 sided encounter, Bangladesh secured victory by 3 wickets.
Winning the toss, Bangladesh elected to field first, putting Sri Lanka into bat. Sri Lanka’s openers, Kusal Perera and captain Kusal Mendis, struggled to make a significant impact. The second opener, Pathum Nissanka, showed promise, scoring 41 off 36 balls before being dismissed by Tanzim Hasan Sakib. Sadeera Samarawickrama contributed 41 off 42 balls before being caught by Mahmudullah on a delivery from Shakib Al Hasan.
However, the standout performance came from Charith Asalanka, who scored a magnificent century, amassing 108 runs off 105 balls before being caught by Liton Das off Tanzim Hasan Sakib’s delivery. With valuable contributions from Dhananjaya de Silva and Maheesh Theekshana, Sri Lanka managed to reach a total of 279 runs but was all out by the end of the 50th over.
The highlight of the Sri Lankan innings was an unusual incident involving Angelo Mathews. In the 25th over of Sri Lanka’s innings, Angelo Mathews was given out due to a rare “time out” dismissal. According to the rules, a batter is given out via time out if he/she is not ready to face the bowler within three minutes from the fall of a wicket. The former Sri Lankan captain took more than 3 minutes to get into the batting position due to issues with his helmet. Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan requested a review, resulting in Angelo Mathews getting dismissed without facing a single ball. This marked the first instance of such a dismissal in international cricket.
In the bowling department, Tanzim Hasan Sakib was the standout performer for Bangladesh, claiming three wickets in his 10 overs, although he was somewhat expensive, conceding 80 runs. Shoriful Islam and captain Shakib Al Hasan secured two wickets each, while Mehidy Hasan took one.
Chasing a target of 280 runs, Bangladesh faced a challenging start. However, Najmul Hossain Shanto played a pivotal role, scoring 90 off 101 balls before being bowled out by Angelo Mathews. Captain Shakib Al Hasan contributed 82 runs off 65 balls before being caught by Charith Asalanka off Angelo Mathews’ delivery. With modest contributions from other batsmen, Bangladesh managed to secure a victory by 3 wickets in the 42nd over with 53 balls remaining.
While both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have slim hopes of qualifying for the World Cup knockouts, the unique Angelo Mathews incident added an element of entertainment to the tournament. In the upcoming 39th ODI, Australia is set to face Afghanistan at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
