Bangladesh came away winners against Sri Lanka, yesterday in the ICC Men’s 50-Overs Cricket World at Delhi, India, winning by 3 wickets with 53 deliveries remining.
The margin of victory means that Bangladesh have leapfrogged Sri Lanka on the points table on net run rate, while Bangladesh, the Netherlands and Sri Lanka are all on four points and all three, and England are still vying for the two remaining spots at the 2025 Champions Trophy.
It was a match in which a solitary incident overshadowed all else. The controversy was the time-out of Sri Lankan all-rounder, Angelo Mathews, the first instance of the rare dismissal in international cricket.
The incident took place midway through Sri Lanka’s innings after Mathews’ faulty helmet strap meant that it had been over two minutes since the fall of the previous wicket without the new batsman being ready to take strike. Shakib Al Hasan appealed, and Mathews was out.
According to the playing conditions of the tournament, “After the fall of a wicket or the retirement of a batsman, the incoming batsman must, unless Time has been called, be ready to receive the ball, or for the other batsman to be ready to receive the next ball within 2 minutes of the dismissal or retirement. If this requirement is not met, the incoming batsman will be out, Timed out.”
An incensed Mathews was sent back, and Sri Lanka played the rest of the game with a chip on their shoulder.
To focus solely on that incident would take away from a solid all-round effort from Bangladesh, and from Shakib Al Hasan.
Bangladesh won the toss, sent Sri Lanka in to bat and then limited them to 279 off 49.3 overs.
The pacy, young Bangladesh fast bowler, Tanzim Sakib had 80 runs scored off his ten overs, largely because Charith Asalanka took the attack to him and scored 108 off 105 balls.
Sakib however took 3 wickets including the key wickets of Pathum Nissanka for 41 and Asalanka. Sadeera Samarawickrama made 41 and Dhanajaya de Silva reached 34.
The other Bangladesh bowlers ensured that Sri Lanka were not allowed to cut loose, and aided by some loose batting, they kept Sri Lanka well in check. Fast bowler, Shoriful Islam took 2-51, and left-arm, leg-spinner, Shakim Al Hasan had 2-57.
Then a 169-run third-wicket stand between Shakib and Najmul Hossain underpinned Bangladesh’ chase, even as Sri Lanka became the first team this World Cup to truly struggle with the evening dew. The bowlers struggled with control, while some dropped catches didn’t help their cause either.
When the partnership was eventually broken, the requirement was just 70, but Sri Lanka kept picking up wickets to make for a nervy finish. Bangladesh, however, batted deep and kept their cool to secure a hard-fought win.
The final scores: Sri Lanka 279 off 40.3 overs, Bangladesh 282-7 off 41.1 overs.
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