‘I always think I can turn a game around’
Lasith Malinga may be on his last legs, but the Sri Lankan slinger showed again that age could not quell his desire to bowl yorkers, rattle the stumps and single-handedly take his team to victory on Friday night.
The 36-year-old, faced with leading his side in defence of a paltry 125 in the third and final T20I against New Zealand to avoid a whitewash, delivered in the grandest of fashion, taking four wickets in four balls for the second time in his storied career, a performance that prompted the official New Zealand Twitter to tweet: “SEND HELP!”
When asked to elaborate on what was going through his mind, Malinga’s answer could be summed up with a word that may be his favourite: yorkers.
“After taking the first wicket, the newcomer [Rutherford] was an inexperienced left-hander. I thought of getting him out in the first ball. My best weapon is the inswinging yorker, so I thought of using that and he got out,” Malinga said.
“Then came de Grandhome and Taylor. These two guys have been a real headache for us throughout the series. I was thinking how to get these two guys, and I knew we could win the game if we get them. I thought that if I could bowl two yorkers, then why not the third? So, I got back to my mental preparation that I do before I bowl a yorker, and walked back to my run-up.”
“The timing and accuracy was there and I got the third wicket. When I got the third, I was thinking again: ‘Why not try it a fourth time?’ It was all the same preparation again and I did it,” added Malinga.
Comments