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The Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews and his Australia counterpart George Bailey have played down the ugly scenes at the end of the second Twenty20 as "heat-of-the-moment stuff" and declared there was no lingering ill-feeling after the match. Sri Lanka's near two-month tour of Australia ended with a last-ball victory in the Melbourne match but the battle did not appear to end there as players heatedly exchanged words on the field after the game.
The problems appeared to begin when a large group of Sri Lanka players gathered for a conference before the final ball of the match, when Glenn Maxwell needed four off Thisara Perera to steal an Australian victory. The debate amongst the Sri Lankans dragged on and Maxwell, left standing at the crease and waiting, told the Sri Lankans to get on with it, to which Mahela Jayawardene responded in kind.
After Maxwell failed to make contact with the last ball, Perera taunted the batsman and Maxwell was clearly making his opinion known while shaking hands with the Sri Lankans. The ill-feeling continued when Matthew Wade engaged in some verbals with Jayawardene and Perera while the handshakes took place, and Bailey had to encourage his men to put it all behind them.
"It was just the heat of the moment," Mathews said after the match. "Things happen. You exchange a few words. They play it hard. We play it hard. So that's it. After the game you're friends."
Bailey said he was unsure of the source of the trouble because he was not on the field at the time, but he agreed with Mathews that it was part and parcel of such a tight finish.
"Passion mate. People care about the game and care about the way they play," Bailey said. "I know we get along very well with this side. Even just the chats there coming off, I think it's all just heat-of-the-moment stuff. But I think what you're seeing is individuals and teams that are pretty keen to win."
After the match, Maxwell tweeted: "Absolutely shattered... I went into the Sri Lankan rooms after and they apologised for going over the top. All good." In a second tweet, he said: "Just to clarify... I apologized to Mahela and SL players as well. I have a good friendship with Mahela, and it's gonna stay that way!".(espncricinfo)
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Comments - 10
Comments - Video: Ugly finish just 'heat of the moment'
Nodrog Tuesday, 29 January 2013 07:12 AM
Its good that what happened on the field and ended with the match with no lingering ill-feelings.
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lucky Tuesday, 29 January 2013 07:29 AM
these things are part of any sport. Sometime in Rugby, Baseball & in Football we see fights much worse than this. Good they all cleared the doubts before it burns in to next level.
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Bigsam Tuesday, 29 January 2013 08:16 AM
No its not good. This is the sort of comment that encourages bad behaviour in a gentlemen's game. If Maxwell has a problem with time, he can talk to the umpires without provoking opposition players.
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clueless Tuesday, 29 January 2013 09:33 AM
I think Mahela over reacted by responding the way he did. he should have left it to the captain.
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pranandu Tuesday, 29 January 2013 09:33 AM
I am so proud of our guys to see that they stand up to the outside world and not just bow their heads and move away from insult and force.
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Sam Tuesday, 29 January 2013 09:44 AM
Well by that definition ...our boys should have been more gentleman-like too. Works both ways. Mahela swore like a pirate. One can always choose how to react, I thought it lacked class.
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Sam Tuesday, 29 January 2013 10:28 AM
Well done Maxwell. That's why we call it " A Gentlemen Game "
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ambaruwa Tuesday, 29 January 2013 10:46 AM
what about Indian captain he is the person who discuss for hours in these kind of situation
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Proudtobesrilankan Tuesday, 29 January 2013 11:08 AM
You dont hav 2 worry abt it Mr.Bigsam!!!
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gamarala Tuesday, 29 January 2013 11:21 AM
Mahela reminded me of Arjuna abit. Gave um back, but the other SL players couldnt and didnt say much because of their poor english. Well done maiya!
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