This Day That Year: Lasith Malinga made his ODI debut
Lasith Malinga entered the ODI arena for Sri Lanka on 17th
July 2004 against the United Arab Emirates at Dambulla during an Asia Cup match.
In the first match of his career, Malinga picked 1 for 39 in
10 overs. He took the wicket of UAE captain Khurram Khan for 13.
He came into limelight during the 2007 Cricket World Cup Super-8
game against South Africa at Providence Stadium, Guyana. Malinga was given the
ball in the 45th over of the innings and dismissed Shaun Pollock and
Andrew Hall. In the next over, he got the wicket of Jacques Kallis and Makhaya
Nitini to become the first bowler in international cricket to pick four wickets
in four balls.
Malinga’s brilliance almost gave Sri Lanka a memorable win
but South Africa held their nerves winning the match by 1 wicket with 10 balls
to spare.
In the 2011 Cricket World Cup game against Kenya at Colombo,
Malinga produced a brilliant hattrick. He dismissed Ongondo, Ngoche, and Otieno
with brilliant yorkers. He finished with figures of 6 for 38 in 7.4 overs. Sri
Lanka won that match easily by 9 wickets. For his brilliant bowling, Malinga
was awarded the man of the match.
He became the first bowler to take two World Cup hattricks
and fourth after Wasim Akram, Chaminda Vaas and Saqlain Mushtaq to pick up two
hattricks in One-day internationals.
In the 5th One-day international match against
Australia on 22nd October 2011, Malinga was at his searing best by
becoming the first bowler to take three hattricks in One-day internationals. He
got wickets of Johnson, Hastings, and Doherty with yorkers. Malinga finished
with figures of 3 for 35 in 8 overs. For his hattrick, Malinga was awarded the
man of the match.
Malinga suffered a back and knee injury after the West
Indies tour. He did not feature in the New Zealand and Indian tour. After his
comeback, he did not look at his best as he took only 10 wickets averaging
62.30.
In the Asia Cup 2018 played in UAE, Malinga played only one
match against Bangladesh in the opening encounter. He was at his best with 4
for 23. Despite his efforts, Sri Lanka lost the match badly.
Under the captaincy of Dimuth Karurante, Malinga did a
decent job by picking 13 wickets from 7 matches ( 7 innings) with best figures
of 4 for 43 against England.
Malinga was appointed as the captain of the Sri Lankan side
during the 2019 tour of South Africa. The 1996 World Champions were whitewashed
0-5 by South Africa in South Africa.
He finally announced retirement from ODI cricket after
playing the first match against Bangladesh at Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on 26th
July 2019. In that match, Malinga produced brilliant yorkers to dismiss Tamim
and Sarkar. He finished his career by getting the last wicket of Mustafizur Rahman
and ended with figures of 3 for 38 in 9.4 overs.
Malinga ended his ODI career with 226 matches (220 innings)
with 338 wickets. He was special with his yorkers with time and troubled the opponents
with deadly bowling.
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