As the 2022 Asia Cup kicked off, with Afghanistan taking over Sri Lanka, it wasn’t long before controversy set in. After Afghan captain Mohammad Nabi won the toss and opted to field, there was an instant adrenaline rush when pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi struck with the last two deliveries of the first left of the match. Horrified by the early wickets, Sri Lanka would have counted on the trusty Pathum Nissanka to keep the ship stable. But on the last delivery of the next over, Nissanka was handed out behind Naveen-ul-Haq.
However, the righthander immediately asked for a review and replays showed that there was hardly any mumbling on the snicko. There was a very minor outage, but it looked like Nissanka had been given a reprieve.
However, the third umpire decided that the weak spike on the snicko was enough to hold on to the original decision and much to his dismay and that of Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka and head coach Chris Silverwood in the dugout, Nissanka had to backtrack.
The decision also sparked anger on Twitter.
“Never seen a peak at the ultra edge in Pathum Nissanka’s review. Terrible decision by 3rd referee Jayaraman,” tweeted Sri Lankan commentator and former club cricketer Roshan Abeysinghe.
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“I’d like to know the explanation for that Nissanka decision. You can’t say Ultra Edge has provided any evidence to suggest there was a nick,” one user wrote.
“How come this isn’t out and the Nissanka review is out. Referees are having a bad day,” another user tweeted.
Never seen a spike in the ultra edge in Pathum Nissanka review. Terrible decision by the 3rd Umpire Jayaraman.
— Roshan Abeysinghe (@RoshanCricket) August 27, 2022
Would be interested to see what the explanation for that Nissanka decision is. You can’t say that Ultra Edge has provided any evidence to suggest there was a notch. #AsiaCup #SLvAFG
— Estelle Vasudevan (@Estelle_Vasude1) August 27, 2022
#AFGvSL #AsiaCup2022
Third referee decides on Pathum Nissanka’s dismissal: pic.twitter.com/HSZ2AY7ghD— Vichitra.Duniya (@vichitra_duniya) August 27, 2022
How come this isn’t out and Nissanka review is out.
Referees have an off day #AsiaCup2022 #SLvsAFG pic.twitter.com/5bgO6SxjD8— Nilhan Perera (@nilz_13) August 27, 2022
Pathum Nissanka was handed out. The murmurs were so slight you could question the ultra rim. But the bat was very close to the ball and the umpire gave up on the field.
The fact that the third Umpire with this faint edge was easily convinced baffles me a bit.#SLvAFG pic.twitter.com/6LU5Pr6koj— Samraat Maharjan (@MaharjanSamraat) August 27, 2022
Sri Lanka never recovered from the early wickets and was bowled out for 105. Fazalhaq Farooqi finished with three wickets, while Mujeeb ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi took two each.
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