O’Connell, the Australian legspinner, walked out to bat after the allocated three minutes were up during Chittagong’s chase of 204. Mehidy, the fielding captain, went to the umpire along with several of his team-mates to ask about the delay.
The umpires, Raveendra Wimalasiri and Tanvir Ahmed, adjudged O’Connell to be out. As O’Connell started to trudge back to the dugout, Mehidy called him back.
Mithun accepted that the dismissal was legitimate, and said that O’Connell had been taken by surprise as the wickets fell quickly, and he didn’t have enough time to get ready despite batting at No. 7.
“I personally feel Miraz did a fantastic job,” Mithun said. “He showed that he has a big heart. It is within the rules for the fielding side to appeal. Credit to Miraz for letting [O’Connell] return to the crease.
“The batter shouldn’t be late to the crease, particularly in a T20. He was a little late in getting ready. Probably he was a little relaxed when he was getting ready, maybe he didn’t realise that we would lose wickets so quickly. That’s what made him late. Nothing else.”
O’Connell’s turn to bat came when Pakistani batter Haider Ali fell for a second-ball duck. Chittagong were 56 for 5 in the seventh over at that stage. After the timed-out drama, however, O’Connell himself fell for a golden duck, caught at short midwicket where Mehidy took the simple catch off Mohammad Nawaz’s bowling.
Khulna went on to beat Chittagong by 37 runs.
