‘4th umpire is wrong': Angelo Mathews presents 'video evidence' to claim he shouldn't have been timed out

The World Cup match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh took a really unprecedented turn after all-rounder Angelo Mathews found himself at the center of a contentious timed-out dismissal. The former Sri Lanka skipper was declared out by the on-field umpires as they deemed that he had overshot his two-minute buffer period.

World Cup 2023:  News |  Schedule |  Results |  Points table

The peculiar turn of events occurred during the 25th over of Sri Lanka’s innings. Bangladesh skipper, Shakib Al Hasan, had picked up the wicket of Sadeera Samarawickrama with the second ball of his over. Mathews then walked out and while taking his guard, he noticed a broken strap on his helmet. He moved away and called for a replacement. Observing this, the Bangladesh cricket team, led by Shakib, made an appeal for a time-out against Mathews.

Read:  Why Angelo Mathews was dismissed ‘Timed Out’ during BAN vs SL game? 

After intense discussions, with Mathews and Shakib, the umpires decided to give the batter out, marking the first instance of such a dismissal in international cricket.

Now, Mathews has come up with evidence to prove that he was well within the two-minute gap given to the incoming batters to face a delivery. Mathews wrote on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, “4th umpire is wrong here! Video evidence shows I still had 5 more seconds even after the helmet gave away! Can the 4th umpire rectify this please? I mean safety is paramount as I just couldn’t face the bowler without a helmet”

Proof! From the time catch was taken and the time helmet strap coming off pic.twitter.com/2I5ebIqkGZ

— Angelo Mathews (@Angelo69Mathews) November 6, 2023

Quick Reads

View All

'Won't require surgery...': Real reason behind Jasprit Bumrah's absence from 5th Test revealed in new report

PCB bans players from WCL over India-Pakistan match controversy

Later on Tuesday afternoon, Mathews shared another video on ‘X’, which showed that Mathews had was at the crease at approximately one minute and 54 seconds.

“I rest my case! Here you go you decide”, Mathews posted on ‘X’.

I rest my case! Here you go you decide 😷😷 pic.twitter.com/AUT0FGffqV

— Angelo Mathews (@Angelo69Mathews) November 7, 2023

Adrian Holdstock, the fourth umpire, had earlier claimed that Mathews had exceeded his allotted two-minute time frame even before the issue with his helmet strap occurred.

As per the MCC laws, a batter must be prepared to face the first ball within three minutes of the previous dismissal. The time limit was reduced to two minutes during the World Cup matches. Now, these rules do not take into account equipment malfunctions as a basis for extending this timeframe. Despite Mathews’ broken helmet strap, Shakib opted not to withdraw his appeal, a decision that raised further inquiries.

Read: Mathews slams Bangladesh after timed-out dismissal

The high-voltage World Cup game eventually went in favour of Bangladesh as they defeated Sri Lanka by three wickets. Chasing a total of 280, Bangladesh scored the winning runs with 53 balls to spare.