A rare incident happened in the Bangladesh-Sri Lanka match of the ongoing Cricket World Cup in India. Sri Lankan all-rounder Angelo Mathews got out without facing any ball.
Thinking, how is this possible? A batsman has to face at least one ball to get out. Even if he gets out on the first ball, he still plays one ball. There are also plenty of first ball dismissals.
So how is it possible to get out without playing any ball? Yes, possible. Let’s find out the secret without delay.
Angelo Mathews came to the wicket as the fourth batsman after returning to Samaravikrama Sajghar. He was not comfortable with the helmet he came to the wicket with. Later another new helmet was brought.
But there was a problem with that too. So Mathews wants to change the helmet again. But by then the three minutes scheduled for the start of the game had passed.
According to ICC rules, after a batsman is dismissed, the next batsman must be ready to play within three minutes. But Mathews could not be. In this case, the batsman will be out if the opposition fielding appeals. That’s it.
Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was bowling at that time. He appealed to the field umpires. The two umpires discussed and declared Mathews out as per the rules. This is called time out.
However, this Sri Lankan all-rounder presented various arguments on his behalf. But could not change the decision of the umpires. As a result, Mathews got out without playing a ball for the first time in the history of international cricket.
At that time, Shakib Al Hasan was playing the 25th over of the innings and his own seventh over. He just dismissed Sadira Samarawickrama with the second ball. Then this rare event happened.
However, this dismissal of Mathews did not add to Shakib’s name. It is counted as a team out like a run out. As of writing this report, Sri Lanka have accumulated 181 runs for five wickets from 33 overs.
(06 November/NBW/AJ)