Zoom News : Nov 06, 2023, 10:55 PM
SL vs BAN: Bangladesh, already out of the World Cup 2023, recorded a strong victory in a single day by hurting Sri Lanka in many ways. Bangladesh knocked Sri Lanka out of the World Cup by defeating Sri Lanka by 3 wickets on Monday 6 November at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. In this match full of controversies, there was a lot of heat from both the sides but both the teams made the match exciting. In the end, with strong batting, Bangladesh achieved the target of 280 runs in just 42 overs.
Before this match, this World Cup had not witnessed any controversy related to the clash of players on the field, but looking at the rivalry that has developed between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the last few years, it was expected that something would happen. Both the teams did not disappoint. Apart from the result of the match, this match will forever be remembered for Angelo Mathews' 'timed out', the ruckus created over it and the confrontation that continued with a sense of revenge in the rest of the match. This gave a new dimension to the Bangladesh-Sri Lanka rivalry.
Slow start and then huge chaos
Sri Lanka batted first in this match and the team was in a good position till the controversy in the 25th over. Pathum Nissanka and Sadira Samarawickrama played good innings. Samarawickrama made a partnership of 63 runs with Charit Asalanka before Shakib was out in the over. Both of them took the team to 135 runs in the 25th over, when Shakib dismissed Samarawickrama and then a big ruckus happened.
Angelo Mathews, who came to the crease, was not fully prepared to play the first ball and the strap of his helmet broke. He asked for another helmet but by then Shakib appealed to the umpire for 'timed out'. Everyone was shocked, Mathews tried to convince the umpire and Shakib but Shakib did not withdraw his appeal. According to the rules, Mathews could not be ready to play within 2 minutes and hence the umpire gave him out.
Asalanka set the tone with a century
There was a lot of debate about this on social media inside and outside the field, but for the Sri Lankan players the match had now taken the form of revenge. Charit Asalanka showed wisdom in this matter and took the responsibility of taking the team to a strong score. This batsman, who was in good form, scored his second century in ODIs. On the basis of his century, Sri Lanka scored 279 runs in 49.3 overs.
Shakib-Shanto stood firm amid the boiling of emotions
Sri Lanka started retaliating with the ball and returned both Bangladesh openers for just 41 runs by the seventh over. However, by this time the Sri Lankan team had started adopting an aggressive attitude against the Bangladeshi batsmen. Before getting out, Liton Das hit an excellent six but immediately fell on the ground. He was feeling pain in his leg and hence the physio came to examine him. Sensing the opportunity, the Sri Lankan players started complaining to the umpires that the Bangladeshi batsman was wasting time.
Well, the match progressed and Shakib Al Hasan came to the crease, with Nazmul Hasan Shanto already present to support him. Both players played an important role in the appeal against Mathews. In such a situation, there was no other more important opportunity than this for the Sri Lankan players. Shakib coincidentally gave a chance to catch the ball of Mathews but Asalanka could not catch it. After this, Sri Lanka kept struggling to make a comeback. Shakib and Shanto together made an excellent partnership of 169 runs for the third wicket and took the team to a winning position.
Mathews took revenge but Bangladesh won
However, during this period, an occasion also came when due to the ball being wet, the entire team including Sri Lankan captain Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews surrounded both the umpires. He was demanding to change the ball but the umpire refused. Meanwhile, Shakib and Mathews also had a little argument.
When the matter came to an end, then it was the turn of drama and this time Kamal Mathews did wonders. He first stopped Shakib from scoring a century and then did not allow Shanto to score a century in the very next over. Within no time, Sri Lanka made the match exciting by taking 5 wickets of Bangladesh in 59 runs but Tauheed Hridoy controlled the emotions and took the team to victory in 41.1 overs. With this, Sri Lanka was also out of the World Cup.