Sri Lanka's newly appointed T20I captain Wanindu Hasaranga was left fuming after a non-no-ball call by Lyndon Hannibal cost his side the opportunity to register a clean sweep in the three-match T20I series on Wednesday at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.
With 19 needed to win off the last over, the hosts looked firmly placed to chase 210 down as Kamindu Mendis struck two fours in the first three balls to bring the required run rate under control.
However, the game turned on its head on the fourth delivery of the over when a high full toss that travelled way over the waist height of Mendis was deemed legal by Hannibal, who was standing at square leg.
Mendis instinctively requested a review but didn't get one as per the latest change in the ICC playing conditions. The change in playing conditions does not allow players to seek a review for anything but potential dismissals.
Though Mendis was outside of his crease when the ball went past him, he was slightly crouched and the ball would have anyways left him over his waist had he played it from the crease.
Wafadar Momand banged the next one short and it was called a wide. Sri Lanka then needed 10 off the last two but a dot on the penultimate delivery sealed the game in Afghanistan's favour.
Hasaranga was left fuming by Hannibal's decision to not call it a no-ball and made it evident after the game.
"That kind of thing shouldn't happen in an international match. If it had been close (to waist height), that's not a problem. But a ball that's going so high… it would have hit the batsman's head if it had gone a little higher," Hasaranga was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
"If you can't see that, that umpire isn't suited to international cricket. It would be much better if he did another job," he added.
Though Hasaranga didn't namedrop Hannibal, he lambasted him for the non-no-ball call and urged the ICC (International Cricket Council) to bring a change in the playing conditions.
"There was a situation where you could review those calls before, but the ICC has got rid of that. Our batsmen tried to review that. If the third umpire is able to check the front-foot no-ball, he should check this kind of no-ball as well. There's no reason why they can't. They didn't do even that, so I'm not sure what was going on in his (the square-leg umpire's) mind at the time," Hasaranga concluded.
