'Is your helmet strap OK?' Kane Williamson jokingly asks Angelo Mathews
Kane Williamson showed his lighter side during the World Cup match against Sri Lanka at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru when he jockingly asked Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews about his helmet strap as he took his position at the crease.
New Zealand won the toss and elected to field first. Despite a strong performance by Kusal Perera, who scored 51 runs in just 28 balls with nine boundaries and two sixes, Sri Lanka found themselves struggling at 70-5 within the first 10 overs after Lockie Ferguson dismissed Perera.
The incident happened when Mathews, who made headlines recently as the first international cricketer to be dismissed 'timed out', came in as the next batsman.
As Mathews arrived at the crease, spectators witnessed a lighthearted exchange between him and Williamson.
The incident happened in the 25th over when Mathews walked out to bat after the dismissal of Sadeera Samarawickrama but found that his helmet strap was broken and immediately signalled for a replacement instead of facing Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan.
This prompted Bangladesh to appeal for a 'time out'. Mathews was seen having an animated discussion with umpire Marais Erasmus and Richard Illingworth, explaining that he had some issue with the helmet strap.
He also approached Shakib, who didn't withdraw his appeal and the Sri Lankan cricketer was forced to leave the field.
A disappointed Mathews, in fact, took to social media, and expressed his thoughts on the dismissal. Mathews also called Bangladesh's decision to dismiss him via 'time out' as «disgraceful».
Cricket greats like Harbhajan Singh, Sanath Jayasurya, Irfan Pathan, Gautam Gambhir also criticised the Bangladesh captain's decision.
