Watch: Umpire Marais Erasmus Tries To Separate Players From Fight During BAN vs SL Clash
There were multiple verbal fights during the match and a controversial dismissal of Angelo Mathews that ignited the spirit of cricket debate.
On Monday, November 6, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, the 38th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 pitted Shakib Al Hasan-led Bangladesh National Cricket Team against Kusal Mendis-led Sri Lanka National Cricket Team. During the match, on-field umpires Richard Illingworth and Marais Erasmus endured a challenging day at work.
Numerous verbal altercations transpired throughout the match, culminating in a contentious dismissal of Angelo Mathews that sparked discourse among cricket enthusiasts and authorities.
A brawl involving multiple players ensued following a series of one-on-one confrontations subsequent to the 38th over of the second innings. Charith Asalanka and Charith Asalanka were involved in a turbulent exchange with Towhid Hridoy, a batsman from Bangladesh. Marais Erasmus was compelled to intervene in order to partition the players prior to the situation escalating further into an acrimonious dispute.
Watch – Marais Erasmus Tries To Separate Bangladesh & Sri Lanka Players From Fight
Sri Lanka was ultimately eliminated from the semi-finals competition as Bangladesh triumphed by three wickets! Notably, the Bangla Tigers had already been eliminated from contention.
Shakib Al Hasan was named Player of the encounter in recognition of his all-around prowess, and he remarked after the encounter that the team bowled exceptionally well. Shakib Al Hasan said:
“They are two important players (Mendis and Samarawickrama), lucky to get those two wickets. There wasn’t much for the bowlers, we bowled really well upfront. Spinners kept it tight. Both the spinners bowled really well. Bowling wins us more matches, fast bowlers were bowling really well up to the World Cup.”
Shakib Al Hasan added that while their World Cup performance fell short of expectations, he was satisfied with their showing against the Lankan Lions.
“We couldn’t live up to our expectations but we knew that we can fight back, we had that mentality. We kept on believing and we kept on coming back and today it paid off,” Shakib Al Hasan said.
“The ground dimension helped as well, the shorter boundary, there was a lot of pace on the ball, so I just had to use the pace, luckily it came off and from there on I never looked back. (Best performance came a little late?) I’d agree with that, we could have been consistent, that’s one disappointment,” Shakib Al Hasan stated.