'Disappointed That Umpires Couldn't React There And Apply Common Sense': Kusal Mendis on Angelo Mathews Timed-out Dismissal

Sri Lanka skipper Kusal Mednis opened up on Angelo Mathews’ controversial dismissal during the ODI World Cup match against Bangladesh on Monday at Arun Jaitley Stadium. The high-intensity match witnessed a bizarre yet historic moment as Mathews became the first player in international cricket history to get timed out.

Mathews failed to get ready to face the ball in regulated time – 2 minutes as his strap of the helmet got broken. He asked for a replacement helmet before facing the first ball while Shakib Al Hasan appealed to the on-field umpire for the timed-out dismissal which worked well in Bangladesh’s favour.

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Sri Lanka skipper Kusal Mendis said the umpires should have used “common sense”.

“When Angelo came to the crease there were like five seconds left for him to be ready and he found out that his helmet strap came out,” said Mendis.

“It was an equipment failure so I’m disappointed that the umpires couldn’t react there and apply common sense,” he added.

Meanwhile, the 3-wicket defeat sealed Sri Lanka’s exit from the semi-final race. It was not an easy chase for Bangladesh as Sri Lanka fought back to put the batters in some trouble but in the end, lost the battle.

Earlier, Charith Asalanka with a century carried the side forward amidst the chaos with Dhananjaya de Silva offering good support and the half-century stand lifted Sri Lanka out of trouble.

Mendis said they were 30-40 runs short on a good batting wicket despite Asalanka’s brilliant knock.

“Charith played a brilliant innings, but we were 30-40 runs short; 320 would have been good enough on this wicket,” he added.

Meanwhile, the skipper was happy with the youngsters’ performance in the World Cup thus far.

“I’m happy that Pathum, Sadeera and Dilshan are coming through. I think in the future we’ll have a very good team which shows promise,” he added.

Mendis further talked about the injuries in the team which affected their campaign.

“We had a couple of injuries, and that was the reason we had so many changes and newcomers. But we also made mistakes; had we played better cricket, we would have a better chance of entering the top four,” he added.