Matheesha Pathirana, on Wednesday, February 21, set the record for picking most wickets in a single bilateral T20I series by a Sri Lankan fast bowler. In the T20I series against Afghanistan, Pathirana picked up 8 wickets from 3 matches at an economy rate of 8.
Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan, 3rd T20I Highlights
Pathirana broke the record of the legendary Lasith Malinga, who accounted for 7 scalps from 3 games against New Zealand back in 2019. Nuwan Pradeep (2019 against Pakistan) and Dushmantha Chameera (2022 against Australia) also picked up 7 wickets.
In the third T20I against Afghanistan at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Pathirana finished with figures of 4-0-42-2. He dismissed the dangerous Azamatullah Omarzai, after which he got the wicket of Karim Janat.
Sri Lanka, however, ended up losing the match by 3 runs, although they won the series 2-1. The home team failed to chase down a mammoth target of 210 despite half-centuries from Pathum Nissanka and Kamindu Mendis.
Matheesha Pathirana bringing out his best
In the first T20I at the same venue, Pathirana had figures of 4-0-24-4 after he got the prized wicket of Omarzai, Noor Ahmad and Naveen-ul-Haq. On the back of his spell, Sri Lanka restricted the Afghans to 156 for 9 and won the match by 4 runs.
Pathirana needs to put in the hard yards from here on as he is set to play for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Last year, Pathirana was entrusted to bowl in the death overs, and he did not let Dhoni and CSK down. Although he was a tad erratic at times, he made sure of picking up wickets at regular intervals.
Pathirana made his T20 debut back in 2021 and has picked up 55 wickets from 40 matches with a four-wicket haul to his name.
