STAR WARS: ROUND 1 GOES TO RONALDO
SCORES HATTRICK AGAINST SPAIN, MESSI MISSES PENALTY
NEW DELHI: In the second balltampering row to mar a Test this year, Sri Lanka refused to take the field in the St Lucia Test against West Indies on Saturday after being docked five penalty runs with the ball changed for its condition being altered.
Drama on Day 3 of the second Test saw Lankan skipper Dinesh Chandimal refusing to lead his team on to the field after umpires Aleem Dar and Ian Gould, who inspected the ball late on Friday, insisted on changing the ball and penalising the visitors.
No play was possible for almost the entire session as infuriated Sri Lanka contested the charge with the umpires and ICC Match Referee Javagal Srinath before finally agreeing to resume play.
The row comes after Australia were caught in a tampering row during the Cape Town Test vs South Africa in March, though the umpires did not change the ball after Aussie player Cameron Bancroft was caught on TV using a sandpaper on it.
It must have looked familiar to Pakistan, who were deemed to have forfeited the 2006 Oval Test against England while protesting the umpires changing the ball and docking them five penalty runs for tampering. The Inzamam-ul-Haq led team did not promptly take field after tea and the umpires, led by Australia’s Darrell Hair, ruled the team had forfeited the game, leading to a major row.
In St Lucia, there were reportedly many rounds of discussions with Sri Lanka coach Chandika Hathurasinghe prominently involved while the umpires did not take any drastic step.
South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis was also involved in a tampering row in the 2016 Australia Test series. He denied the initial charge but was found guilty and penalised.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 253 all out; West Indies 163/4 (Devon Smith 61) after lunch on Day 3.