One of the rarest events in cricketing history took place when Sri Lanka and Bangladesh faced each other in an ODI World Cup clash at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on November 6, 2023. It was a dead rubber match as both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were out of the semi-final race. Despite this, it became an interesting game as Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews became the first-ever batter in cricket history to get timed out in international cricket without playing a single delivery.
During the first innings, Angelo Mathews was preparing to come to bat after Sri Lanka lost their fourth wicket at the score of 135 runs in the form of Sadeera Samarawickrama (41 off 42) in 24.2 overs. However, while coming to the field, Matthews found out that there is a defect
in his helmet and asked the substitute fielder to bring the other helmet. Between this, Bangladeshi skipper Shakib al Hasan appealed for Timed Out as a lot of time was already gone between the fall of the fourth wicket and the next batter getting ready to face his first ball.
Shakib al Hasan didn't withdrew the appeal despite Angelo Mathews' request
As Angelo Matthew was waiting for his helmet, Shakib al Hasan appealed for a timed out. As per the rules, the umpires also didn’t have any choice but to accept the appeal and Angelo Matthew was given out without even playing a single ball. The Sri Lanka batter also tried to explain his situation to the umpires and Shakib al Hasan, but the Bangladesh skipper wasn’t ready to withdraw which left Matthew frustrated.
Sri Lanka went on to lose two back-to-back wickets on the same ball and score. This also became the first-ever instance in cricket history where a batter got timed out. According to a rule in the cricketing laws, the next batter must be ready to bat within three minutes after the fall of the previous wicket, or else he will be time out. Eventually Bangladesh defeated Sri Lanka three wickets to register their second win in the tournament.
