‘It could be unfair’ – Angelo Mathews shows his displeasure after ball change aids England during first Test

Former Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews wasn’t happy with the ball change that occurred during the second innings. At one stage the Sri Lankan batters had managed to see off the new ball and were building a strong partnership. This is when the English side wanted the ball to be changed in the 41st over with Sri Lanka’s score reading 146/4. 

England won the match late on the fifth day by 5 wickets as Joe Root scored an unbeaten 62 to help his side take 1-0 lead in the series. Angelo Mathews while speaking to The Test Match special said, “It was unfortunate, to be honest. Yesterday we were sitting pretty until the ball was changed."

Angelo Mathews also said, “I think it could be unfair for batters on both teams because the batters want to get rid of the hard, shiny ball, and once we got to the 48-over mark, I think we were quite comfortably playing them.”

Ball change controversy mars terrific first Test

During his chat with the Test Match special former Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews ended by saying, “Once the ball was changed, I think it changed the entire momentum of the game. It started swinging both ways, it started nipping back in, so it was really difficult. The batters are waiting to get rid of the hardness of the ball, and it’s unfortunate that the ball was changed and it started swinging and it changed the whole complexion of the game.”

This is not the first time, such an incident has happened and an opposition has taken offense to it. The former Australian skipper had raised the same concerns during the Oval Test during the Ashes series in 2023. Ricky Ponting had said, “I just cannot fathom how two international umpires that have done that a lot of times can actually get that so wrong.”

Sri Lanka began the final day with Kamindu Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal at the crease. The left-handed Kamindu Mendis scored a brilliant 113 from 183 balls with 15 fours and a six. Gus Atkinson got the big wicket of Mendis caught by Joe Root as Dinesh Chandimal fought a lone ball before falling for 79. 

Having to chase 205 to win, the home team lost Ben Duckett early for 11. Skipper Ollie Pope was out next for 6 while Daniel Lawrence perished after scoring 34. Harry Brook and Joe Root added 49 runs for the 4th wicket before Brook fell for 32.

Jamie Smith and Joe Root then added 64 runs for the 5th wicket as the home team went closer to the target. The winning runs came when Joe Root hit Prabhath Jayasuriya for a four to seal the deal and take a 1-0 lead in the series.