Sri Lanka veteran Angelo Mathews has been involved in another bizarre dismissal, caught nine runs short of a fourth 150-plus score at Test level.
Nearly three months after he was controversially ‘timed out’ at the World Cup, Mathews on Saturday was dismissed hit wicket after a delivery from Qais Ahmad that, surely by the Afghanistan spinner’s own admission, wasn’t his best.
Mathews and fellow star Dinesh Chandimal put on a record 232-run fourth-wicket partnership Saturday to leave Sri Lanka in firm control on day two of their one-off Test against Afghanistan in Colombo.
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But Mathews was out on the final ball of the day for 141 in odd circumstances.
His anticlimactic dismissal came when he smashed a long hop from Qais to the fine leg boundary from deep in the crease. But in his follow through, he lost his balance and his bat clipped the stumps, meaning he was out hit wicket for the first time in his international career.
It comes just months after Mathews became the first player to be ‘timed out’ at international level during Sri Lanka’s World Cup game against Bangladesh.
Still, Sri Lanka led by 212 runs with four wickets in hand at stumps, with Sadeera Samarawickrama (21) still at the crease.
“We have three more days in the game,” veteran opener Dimuth Karunaratne told reporters.
“We were planning to bat out the day tomorrow and give everyone an opportunity.”
Chandimal (107) also notched up a century in a partnership that broke a record at the Sinhalese Sports Club that had stood for 32 years.
Mathews and Chandimal came together after three wickets had fallen in the morning session and Sri Lanka were still 50 runs behind.
The senior batsmen saw off some accurate bowling by the Afghan fast bowlers on a wicket that had flattened out to the detriment of spinners.
“They know how to handle situations,” Karunaratne said of the duo.
“They knew that once the spin comes it will be easy for batting. They did pretty well.”
Mathews was the first to the century, cutting Qais Ahmad past backward point for two runs.
His innings of 141 topped his previous best in Sri Lanka of 122 against Pakistan in 2015.
Chandimal got to his 15th Test hundred off Nijat Masood, clipping one past mid-on to the boundary.
Naveed Zadran was rewarded for his discipline when Chandimal was caught behind as Afghanistan found a breakthrough after 62 overs.
New captain Dhananjaya de Silva got off to the worst possible start on the next ball when he was run out. He pushed one to mid-off and was trying to get off the mark, but Mathews was ball-watching and Afghan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi threw down the stumps at the striker’s end to find de Silva well short of the crease.
Afghanistan took three wickets before lunch on the second day after Sri Lanka resumed on 80 without loss.
Nishan Madushka was the first to depart for 37 after hitting straight to Noor Ali Zadran at leg-slip off debutant Zadran.
Fellow opener Karunaratne posted his 35th Test half-century in an aggressive knock that saw 12 boundaries off 72 balls.
But the left-hander’s attempt to put away a full toss from Qais saw him caught at short mid-wicket by Ibrahim Zadran for 77.
Afghanistan were bowled out for 198 in the final session of Friday’s first day, after being put in to bat by the hosts.
— with AFP
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