Bangladesh were left embarrassed after a review for an lbw turned out to be a hopelessly inaccurate call, leaving them one referral less on the opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Sylhet.
After Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first, openers Nishan Madushka and Dimuth Karunarate put up a 96 on the boards. An unfortunate run out cut short Madushka’s innings for 57. Karunarate and Kusal Mendis built on the start, frustrating the hosts. Bangladesh’s desperation for a breakthrough became obvious when they decided to ring up the third umpire for a leg-before appeal that proved to be unnecessary.
Sri Lanka were comfortably placed at 151-1 when Taijul Islam came in to bowl the penultimate ball of the 44th over against Kusal Mendis, batting then on 29. Taijul landed it around middle and off while coming in from around the wicket. Mendis charged down the wicket, covered the line of the ball and played a nice front-foot defence with his head down. The ball trickled down to short cover.
For some reason, the Bangladesh players looked interested and seemingly discussed whether the ball had hit Mendis’ pad first. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto gestured the ‘T’ to umpire Nigel Llong, asking for a review. Replays confirmed that the ball had hit the meat of the bat. It isn’t immediately clear who prompted the review.
The bizarre review generated a lot of reactions on social media platform X (previously Twitter):
What just happened? 👀
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.#BANvSL #FanCode #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/sJBR5jMSov— FanCode (@FanCode) March 30, 2024
Bangladesh review system pic.twitter.com/Bjagg2ZLLR
— 𝑸𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒎 𝑯𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒏 🫧 (@qasim_says_) March 30, 2024
I think the @ICC should look into reviews taken like that…. this one is absolutely shady and baffling to say the least. Bangladesh cricket has never ceased to amaze.
Video: @Cricguy88 pic.twitter.com/fJPhQe5OwY
— G. S. Vivek (@GSV1980) March 30, 2024
Mendis was eventually dismissed by Shakib Al Hasan in the 72nd over, but not until he had scored 93 off 150. Karunaratne (86 off 129) was the other top contributor for Sri Lanka as they went to stumps at 314-4.
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