Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews became the first player to be timed out in 146 years of international cricket during a controversial World Cup clash with Bangladesh.

After Sadeera Samarawickrama was caught on the deep mid-wicket boundary with Sri Lanka on 135 for four, Mathews walked to the crease with the bat in hand but appeared to notice his helmet strap was broken before marking his guard.

The Sri Lankan number six signalled for a new helmet before facing a ball and Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan then appealed to the umpire for the batter’s wicket, as he was not ready to face his first ball within the two minutes required by the competition rules.

After much deliberation and no withdrawal of the appeal, Mathews was forced to walk off the field having not faced a ball.

While within the laws of the game, questions will be asked over whether the dismissal is also within its spirit.

The World Cup rules state that “after the fall of a wicket or the retirement of a batter, the incoming batter must, unless time has been called, be ready to receive the ball or for the other batter to be ready to receive the next ball within two minutes of the dismissal or retirement. If this requirement is not met, the incoming batter will be out, timed out.”

Oshane Thomas and Andre Fletcher provided handy contributions to help the Kandy Falcons secure a nine wicket win over the Colombo Stars in the Lankan Premier League on Saturday.

Thomas was economical with the ball, finishing his four overs with figures of 3-20 to help restrict the Stars to 106 all out after they won the toss and chose to bat.

Sri Lankan pacer Chamika Karunaratne was the spearhead of the attack for the Falcons with a brilliant 4-11 off 3.1 overs while Captain Angelo Matthews (41) and Dinesh Chandimal (20) were the only batsmen to provide any resistance for the Stars.

The chase was a simple one thanks to a 101-run second wicket partnership between Kamindu Mendis (51 not out) and Fletcher (44 not out). The pair got together after the wicket of Minod Bhanuka for just six in the second over and guided the Falcons to 108-1 after 16 overs for their sixth win in seven matches.