Bangladesh shut off Sri Lanka's slender chance to make it to the knock-out stages of the ICC World Cup 2023 by beating them by 3 wickets in New Delhi on Monday. Chasing Sri Lanka's 279, Shakib Al Hasan's team hit the victory run with three wickets and 53 balls to spare. While the win took them to seventh in the table with 4 points and a Net Run Rate (NRR) of -1.142, Sri Lanka slipped to eighth (4 points, -1.160 NRR) -- only above the Netherlands and England.
Earlier in the game, Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews became the first batter in international cricket to be declared "Timed Out." The incident happened in the 25th over when the 36-year-old walked out to bat after the dismissal of Sadeera Samarawickrama but found that the helmet strap was broken and immediately signalled for a replacement instead of facing the bowler Shakib Al Hasan.
This prompted Bangladesh to appeal for a 'time out'. Mathews was seen having an animated discussion with umpire Marais Erasmus and Richard Illingworth, explaining that he had some issue with the helmet strap. He also approached Shakib, who didn't withdraw his appeal and the Sri Lankan cricketer was forced to leave the field.
A furious Mathews, who made a late entry into the World Cup as a replacement player, walked back to the dug out, smashing his helmet outside the boundary rope in disgust.
Shakib Al Hasan, who made a quickfire 82, collaborated in a 169-run stand with Najmul Hossain Shanto (90) to help Bangladesh chase down the target at ease. Charith Asalanka's 108 underpinned Sri Lanka's 279 all-out after they were put into bat by Shakib, who was in the eye of a storm on an eventful day.
Put into bat, Sri Lanka lost Kusal Perera in the first over when Bangladesh wicketkeeper Mushfiquir Rahim flew to his left to grab a one-handed blinder in front of the first slip. Pathum Nissanka (41) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (41) could not convert the starts but Asalanka smashed five sixes and six fours in his second ODI century to help Sri Lanka post a competitive total.
Later, 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.
Following the team's poor performance in the tournament, the entire Sri Lankan board was sacked and replaced with an interim committee earlier on Monday.The prevailing filthy air in New Delhi was the talking point ahead of the match between the Asian sides.The air quality index (AQI) near the Arun Jaitley Stadium read close to 400 on Monday noon triggering speculation that the match might get delayed if not cancelled altogether.
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 agency inputs
