Sri Lanka's Matheesha Pathirana races to 50 T20 wickets: Stats
Matheesha Pathirana was the protagonist for Sri Lanka in their opening T20I encounter against Afghanistan in Dambulla. The young speedster claimed his career-best figures of 4/24 in only his second T20I for the Lankan Lions. His heroics with the ball helped the hosts register a victory by four runs. It was a tight game in the end and Pathirana's 19th over was the difference.
Pathirana showed tremendous maturity with the ball
Pathirana was introduced late in the attack but he made a great impact by dismissing Azamatullah Omarzai early on in his innings. He later returned at the death and trapped Karim Janat right in front of the stumps as he played down the wrong line. A couple of overs later, Pathirana knocked over Noor Ahmad and Naveen-ul-Haq respectively with two vicious yorkers.
Pathirana completed 50 wickets in T20 cricket
With his exceptional figures of 4/24, Pathirana completed 50 wickets in T20 cricket. Before the clash, the youngster only needed three scalps to reach the milestone. He has featured in 38 T20s, claiming 51 wickets at an average of around 21. It was his maiden four-fer in this format. In T20Is, this was just his second match. He opened his wickets column for SL.
A unique record for the speedster
As per statistician Thurunu Jayasiri, Pathirana (21y 61d) is the youngest Sri Lankan bowler to take three or more wickets in a T20I match. He is also the youngest Sri Lankan player to win the Player of the Match award in T20Is.
Pathirana bowled the decisive penultimate over
Pathirana conceded a single to Ibrahim Zadran on the first ball (19th over). He followed it up with a dot against Noor and castled him with the third delivery. He conceded two singles in the next two balls as he kept it tight on the stumps. Eventually, he produced another yorker to clean up Naveen. He scalped two wickets and gave away three runs.
Here's the match summary
SL were reeling at 55/4 when Wanindu Hasaranga and Sadeera Samarawickrama added 72 runs together. The former slammed a 32-ball 67. Eventually, SL were bowled out for 160 in 19 overs. Fazalhaq Farooqi starred with 3/25. In reply, Ibrahim hammered a 67 but Afghanistan fell short by four runs as none of the other batters supported him. Pathirana returned with career-best figures of 4/24.