NEW DELHI: Sri Lanka all-rounder Charith Asalanka feels that Angelo Mathews’s dismissal by time out against Bangladesh in the ongoing World Cup is “not good for the spirit of cricket.”
The Lions squared off against the Tigers at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Monday looking to end the tournament on a high note and securing a spot for the ICC Champions Trophy.
Sri Lanka were put to bat first and the first inning was going quite comfortably but one of the unexpected incidents took place in the 25th over when Sri Lanka found themselves 135-4 in the 25th over and Samarawickrama had just lost his wicket.
Mathews took his time while walking out to the crease and arrived to take strike after the stipulated two-minute mark. Time continued to elapse as he complained about an issue with the strap of his helmet, skipper Shakib Al Hasan and co appealed for time out and umpires obliged to the appeal.
After the end of the first innings, Aslanka talked about the decision and said, “My point of view it’s not good for the spirit of the game. ”
Asalanka produced an exceptional performance with the bat scoring 108 in 105 balls stitching up small yet influential partnerships with Dhananjaya de Silva and Maheesh Theekshana.
The left-handed batter’s form almost took Sri Lanka to a 300-plus score but eventually got dismissed in the 49th over which proved to be a major setback for Sri Lanka.
“It’s always good feeling when you are getting a hundred and I’m feeling happy now. I love to have a partnership with Dhananjaya because he is a right-hander and I’m a left-hander and he always scores quickly. Credit should go to the pitches, because we can hit the ball through the line. When I was batting, I was looking for 300 but unfortunately, I got out in the 49th over. But, I think we have got enough,” Asalanka added. (ANI)