Australia were left stunned as bails refused to fall despite hitting the stumps when Angelo Mathews was batting on day two of the first Test against Sri Lanka at the Galle International Stadium. Nathan Lyon was denied a well-deserved scalp as a video of the same surfaced on social media on January 30, 2025.
The incident occurred in the eighth over of the innings as Angelo Mathews looked to clip the full ball on the on side but he missed it and the red cherry dribbled from the pads onto the stumps. However, the bails didn’t come off, leaving the visiting side and the commentators confused. Replays showed that the ball didn’t hit the stumps with as much force to make the bails fall to the ground.
Watch the clip here:
The former Sri Lankan skipper eventually fell to Lyon in the veteran off-spinner’s next over as Travis Head took a stunning catch at short leg.
Centuries from Usman Khawaja Steve Smith and Josh Inglis leave Sri Lanka a mountain to climb
Usman Khawaja top-scored for Australia with 232, while Steve Smith (141) and Josh Inglis (102) also struck centuries as the tourists declared their innings at 654/6 on day two.
Before Lyon dismissed Mathews, left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann removed Oshada Fernando, while Mitchell Starc got rid of Dimuth Karunaratne. Australia left Sri Lanka reeling at 44/3, with the hosts trailing by 610 runs heading to day two. The visitors are targeting their first series win in Sri Lanka since 2011.
