World Cup 2023: Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka by 3 wickets in a game mired by timed out controversy

In a game mired by the 'timed out' controversy, it was Bangladesh that emerged victorious by three wickets against Sri Lanka at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Monday (Nov 6) evening. Riding on brilliant innings from Najmul Shanto (90) and Shakib Al Hasan (82), Bangladesh raked up their second win of the World Cup campaign to stake a claim for the Champions Trophy 2025 spot.

Chasing a challenging total of 280 could have been a tricky task for the Bangladesh batters, especially after Madhushankasent opener Tanzid Hasanback to the pavilion in the first over. However, dew came to Bangaldesh's rescue and batting became much easier under the floodlights.

Among many narratives on play in the match, none was more intriguing than Shakib Al Hasan squaring up against Angelo Mathews. Earlier in the day, the Bangladesh skipper appealed for a 'timed out' dismissal which saw Mathews being adjudged out by the umpires after failing to face a ball within two minutes of the previous batter's dismissal.

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As such, fans were waiting for Mathews to bowl his gentle dibbly dobblers against Shakib. The Sri Lankan veteran nearly struck in the first over as the left-hand batter lofted a powerful drive to Charith Asalanka at short cover. However, the centurion of the first innings, spilled a relatively tough chance to give a reprieve to Shakib.

From thereon, both Shakib and Shanto did not let go of the initiative and strung a beautiful 169-run partnership to nearly bat Sri Lanka out of the contest.

Just when it looked like the game was done and dusted, Mathews revved up his engine and accounted for Shakib's dismissal with the on-air commentators describing it as 'poetic justice'. Mathews even gave a 'time is up' send off to Shakib by pointing to his watch and waiting for him to walk away.

Mathews did not stop here as he struck again in the next over to clean up Shanto and get the nerves jangling in the Bangladesh camp. Some poor shots from Mushifiqur Rahim and Mehidy Hasan Miraz meant the game got much closer than the subcontinent side had earlier anticipated. However,Tanzim Sakib held his own and smashed the winning boundary to give two crucial points to the Bangladesh side.

Sri Lanka's shaky performance with the bat

Batting first, Sri Lanka remained hesitant to press the trigger from the start and meandered at a slow pace. Things went south after Mathews was sent back to the hut with the scoreboard reading 135/5.

With backs against the wall, Asalanka (108) batted superbly for his second ODI hundred and pulled his team out of the hole they were in. At one point it looked like Sri Lanka would cross the 300-run mark but another collapse at the death meant that islanders failed to play their full quota of 50 overs.

Taskin was good with the new ball despite not getting any wickets. Shakib and Mehidy were tidy through the middle, although Tanzim was quite expensive.