Mathews became the first batter Timed Out

Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews became the first batter to be timed out in international cricket during the World Cup group-stage match against Bangladesh in Delhi. There have only been six other instances of a batter being timed out since the Law was introduced.

Mathews was coming into bat with Sri Lanka 135-4 after 24.2 overs against Bangladesh, but due to a helmet issue was slow to take the crease.

While the 12th man ran to retrieve a new helmet, time continued to tick by – and well over three minutes after the previous wicket, Mathews and the umpires were still in discussions.

But Bangladesh had appealed and, with the talks dragging on longer than the period Mathews actually had to make it to the crease, the umpires had to time him out – with Mathews losing his wicket without facing a ball.

“Oh dear, oh dear,” one of the commentators said.

“Given out without facing a ball! Timed out!”

After a long period of uncertainty, one of the commentators took it a step further once everyone realized what had happened, stating captain Shakib Al Hasan should not have appealed.

“That’s against the spirit of the game, that’s what I feel about this,” he said.