Scratchy! Rangana Herath spikes the bat of Kane Williamson

A cricketer’s bat is a cherished weapon. Cricketers often treat their equipment with great care and utmost respect. Yes, sometimes you’ll see them throwing the bat away in anger, but it’s only a momentary lapse of judgement.

The greats of the game always emphasise on treating the bat with respect, as it’s your biggest friend out there in the middle.

There are different levels of taping, polishing and chipping done to get the bat to its most perfect shape for a batsman; hours and days spent trying to get the best out of the equipment.

You’ll see them change their bats often, but it’s still painful to watch something you hold so precious broken.

So when Rangana Herath brutally stepped on Kane Williamson’s bat in the 4th ODI of the ongoing series, it must have hurt the Kiwi. The incident happened in the 32nd over of the innings when Herath, trying to stop a shot by Grant Elliott from his own bowling, collided with Williamson at the non-striker’s end and unintentionally stepped on his bat.

See what damage it did to the bat: