players delivered a “Guard of Honour” to Sri Lanka veteran all-rounder Angelo Mathews, who played his last international Test match for his team in Galle.
Mathews announced his retirement from red-ball cricket last month through a social media post. In the final Test of his career, the 38-year-old scored 38 and eight from his bat. The contest between both teams concluded in a stalemate. The Bangla captain Najmul Hossain Shanto became the player of the match (POTM) for his centuries in both innings of the game. He produced the knock of 148 and an unbeaten 125.
When Mathews walked out on the field to bat for Sri Lanka in the second innings on Saturday, June 21, the Bangladesh players raised their bats and gave a salute to the Sri Lankan. Mathews served Sri Lanka’s Test side from 2009 to 2025 and during this period, he scored 8214 runs with 16 hundreds and 45 fifties in 212 innings of 119 matches. In his vast career, he also captained Sri Lanka from 2013 to 2017. During his leadership stint, Sri Lanka won a historic Test series in England in 2014. He also holds the record of being Sri Lanka’s youngest Test captain.
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Angelo Mathews’ equation with Bangladesh in cricket
Angelo Mathews hit the headlines in November 2023 during the ICC Cricket World Cup held in India. During the game between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in Delhi, when Mathews walked into the middle late for batting, the Bangladesh side appealed for his dismissal and the umpires declared the veteran timed out.
Mathews left the ground in an angry mood. However, after 19 months of the infamous incident, the same opposition displayed a heartwarming gesture to make Mathews’ retirement memorable. Following this game, will play their second and final Test of the series against Bangladesh in Colombo (SSC).