Lasith Malinga rolled back the years to return figures of 4/43 to devastate England and inspire Sri Lanka to a 20-run victory in England on Friday. In the process, he became only the second bowler from Sri Lanka, other than Muttiah Muralitharan, to take 50 wickets in World Cup history.
Stripped of captaincy on eve of the World Cup, not many would have given the 35-year-old warhorse to have come up with one of the best spells of the tournament so far. England, like many cricket fans, were stunned and looking at an increasingly problematic points table as Malinga roared to his second best figures on the World Cup stage.
Malinga has become the quickest to take 50 wickets in World Cup history. Only four bowlers have reached the landmark of 50 World Cup wickets. While Malinga’s 50th wicket came in his 26th match, Glenn Mcgrath and Muralitharan reached the landmark in their 30th match while Wasim Akram reached it in his 34th match.
Sri Lanka, who had racked up a below par 232, used the sluggishness in the surface to fight England in the run-chase and ultimately succeeded in restricting them 20 runs short of their total. Lasith Malinga led Sri Lanka’s bowling efforts as the veteran pacer reduced England to 26/2 inside the first seven overs.
While they managed to resurrect the innings through Eoin Morgan and Joe Root, Malinga returned to dismiss Root and Buttler in quick succession to bring Sri Lanka back into the match. He ended with figures of 4/43 in the match and showed why he is regarded as a match-winner even at the fag end of his career.
The 35-year-old also became the first Sri Lankan bowler to register a four-wicket haul against England in ODIs. In fact, he is third in the list of bowlers with most ODI wickets against England with 48 scalps in 30 matches. Only Brett Lee (65 wickets in 37 matches) and Glenn McGrath (53 wickets in 33 matches) have more.
