Watch: Huge controversy! 3rd umpire declares Soumya Sarkar not out despite UltraEdge spike during Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka

Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka has thrown up another controversy and has given fans everything to cheer about. The ongoing second T20I of the three-match series between the teams is taking place at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in Sylhet. 

During the second innings of the ongoing game, an unusual thing happened that left the Sri Lanka team in totters. On the first ball of the fourth ball, Binura Fernando bowled a delivery that skiddy back of a length ball and was angled in from around off. Soumya Sarkar tried to pull it across but missed it. 

There was a clear sound as the ball carried through to Kusal Mendis. The Sri Lanka team went up and even the umpire gave it out, listening to the noise. Soumya Sarkar, however, was adamant that he didn’t hit the ball and opted to DRS after having a word with his batting partner Litton Das. 

As the third umpire had a look, the replays showed that there was a spike. However, the official said that there was a clear gap between the bat and the ball. The umpire felt that the spike appeared after the ball had passed the bat and it didn’t go with Sri Lanka players, who were fuming. 

Here’s the video: 

DRAMA! Clear noise > on-field umpire signals out > review taken > 3rd umpire rules not out despite UltraEdge!

Bangladesh-Sri Lanka always throws up a controversy 😶
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.#BANvsSL #FanCode pic.twitter.com/8hH9i65SD6

— FanCode (@FanCode) March 6, 2024

Sri Lanka head coach Chris Silverwood was livid with the call of the third umpire. Players in Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Charith Asalanka, and other players were all over the on-field umpires as they were seen having animated chats with the umpires. 

Soumya Sarkar then applied salt to the wounds for Sri Lanka as he hit a boundary on the very next ball. The southpaw played a vital hand for the team at the top and helped them get off the valiant start with the bat in the chase of 166 runs. 

Soumya Sarkar along with Litton Das added 68 runs for the opening partnership and made sure that they put Sri Lanka under pressure right from the start. While the left-hander scored 26 runs off 22 balls, Das ended with an innings of 36 runs off 24 balls.

Bangladesh win second T20I against Sri Lanka to level the series 

After the valiant start by Soumya Sarkar and Litton Das, Matheesha Pathirana brought Sri Lanka back into the game. He removed both the openers in the span of two overs and revived the hopes of the Sri Lanka fans. 

But new skipper, Najmul Hossain Shanto (53*)  and Towhid Hridoy (32*) played magnificently well after that and took the game away from Sri Lanka. The duo added an unbeaten 87-run partnership and made sure that Bangladesh chased the target with 8 wickets in hand and two overs to spare and level the series 1-1 with one match to go.

Earlier, Sri Lanka piled up a total of 165 runs on the board. Kusal Mendis (36) played a vital hand at the top along with Kamindu Mendis (37). After the duo got out, Charith Asalanka (28), Angelo Mathews (32*) and Dasun Shanaka (20*) made handy contributions to take the team past 160 runs.