In a sensational spell of fast bowling, all of his hat-trick wickets were either bowled or LBW.
A fast bowler with a slingy-arm action taking a hat-trick is not a new thing in cricketing history. The legendary Lasith Malinga took five hat-tricks in his illustrious cricketing career, three in ODIs and two in T20Is. But ever since Malinga has left, Sri Lanka have felt his absence.
The upcoming bowler Matheesha Pathirana is seen to be very similar to him with his action and skill. But it is time for another slingy-arm bowler to make his mark in international cricket. Nuwan Thushara had a dream spell at Sylhet as he destroyed Bangladesh’s batting order in an unplayable spell.
Hat-trick hero! 🔥
Nuwan Thusara’s slingy pace tore through Bangladesh’s lineup, etching his name in history.
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.#BANvsSL #FanCode pic.twitter.com/cuB8p9DLAs— FanCode (@FanCode) March 9, 2024
Thushara came in to bowl the fourth over of the match. He announced himself with a bang. In just his second ball, he bowled Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto with a peach. It was a good length ball that shaped in to leave a gap between bat and pad and cannon into the stumps.
In the next ball, he uprooted the off-stump of Towhid Hridoy. The ball pitched middle and off and moved away from the right-hander to take the stump out of the ground. This was turning out to be a dream spell from the rookie fast bowler.
Nuwan Thushara got the big wicket of Mahmudullah to complete his hat-trick. The experienced batter got squared up by a ball that moved late and hit the pads. The umpire gave that out straight away. Although Mahmudullah reviewed, but the umpire’s call stayed.
The shades of Lasith Malinga were visible throughout Thushara’s spell. All of his three hat-trick wickets were either bowled or LBW. After his first over of the series, he had figures of 1-1-0-3. His unplayable spell recreated many fond memories for Sri Lanka. He went on to pick up two more wickets to finish with an outstanding spell of 4-1-20-5.
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Coincidentally, Nuwan Thushara will also play for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024, the same team for which Malinga played as well. He was signed by Mumbai Indians for INR 4.8 crore in IPL 2024 auction. His performance is a good sign for the franchise who will be looking to win their sixth title this season.
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