Pathirana took the wickets of Ishan Kishan (23), Surya Kumar Yadav (0), Tilak Varma (31) and Romario Shepherd (1) to return figures of 4 for 28. (BCCI)
Legendary Sri Lankan pacer and bowling coach of Mumbai Indians, Lasith Malinga was impressed by Matheesha Pathirana’s show against MI and reckons he could have a crucial role to play in Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup campaign.
Legendary pacer Lasith Malinga was quite impressed with fellow Sri Lankan Matheesha Pathirana’s bowling in the blockbuster Indian Premier League (IPL) clash between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. Pathirana, the Man of the Match, registered stunning figures of 4/28 in his four overs in CSK’s 20-run win over Mumbai. Pathirana is often compared with Malinga, the current Mumbai Indians bowling coach, because of his sling action.
Extremely impressed with @matheesha_81’s performance yesterday, despite doing it against us.He has significantly enhanced his control, line, and length.His form leading into the WC will be pivotal for SL— Lasith Malinga (@malinga_ninety9) April 15, 2024
In his post on X (formerly Twitter), Lasith Malinga wrote, “Extremely impressed with Matheesha Pathirana’s performance yesterday, despite doing it against us. He has significantly enhanced his control, line, and length. His form leading into the WC will be pivotal for SL.”
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CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad also termed Matheesha Pathirana as their very “own Malinga”. “Bowling-wise, we were spot on with our execution. Even in the powerplay, I would have taken six overs for 60. These kinds of venues demand both skills, batting and bowling…Our Malinga bowled exceptionally well and nailed those yorkers,” Gaikwad said at the post-match presentation.
Ruturaj Gaikwad was spot-on in comparing Pathirana with Malinga, who was a menace to every team in the IPL in his heyday. Malinga was CSK’s nemesis when the two sides met in the league. He has the most number of wickets (37) against CSK, 10 more scalps than the second bowler (Sunil Narine) on this list.
Matheesha Pathirana, on Sunday, brought back the memories of Lasith Malinga with some terrific bowling performances. Batting first, CSK posted a solid total of 206 runs at the loss of four wickets. MI, eventually, fell short of the total by 20 runs.
MI kicked off the run chase on a promising note with a solid opening stand of 70. Matheesha Pathirana broke the opening partnership by picking up the wicket of Ishan Kishan for 23. Two balls later, Pathirana dismissed Suryakumar Yadav for a duck. Later, he scalped two more wickets—Tilak Varma and Romario Shepherd—to earn a convincing win for the reigning champions.
With this, Matheesha Pathirana scripted his best figures in the history of IPL. The right-arm pacer has so far bagged eight wickets at an economy rate of 7.33 in this season’s IPL. In their next match, CSK will be up against Lucknow Super Giants on Friday, April 19.
