Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell… the line of great batsmen is long, which holds water against the bowler we are going to talk about. His international career is only 2 years old, he is also only 21 years old, but he leads famous batsmen to the pavilion as if he is playing with his left hand. We are talking about Sri Lankan left-arm spinner Dunithe Vellalaghe, who reminded the West Indies team of his grandmother in the match played in Dambulla on October 15.
Dunithe Velalaghe is heavy on West Indies’ hopes
The second match of the T20 series played in Dambulla was important for Sri Lanka. Batting first in this important match, Sri Lanka scored 162 runs for 5 wickets in 20 overs. That means West Indies got a target of 163 runs to win. The way the Caribbean team chased down the 180-run target in the first T20 saw them dominate in the second T20 as well. But, those hopes regarding the West Indies were dashed by Dunithe Vellalaghe’s spin.
West Indies top order Dunith Velalagh took the wicket.
Dunith Velalagh did the most important job for the Sri Lankan team in the second T20 against West Indies. The 21-year-old spinner made his T20I debut in this match as he attacked the Caribbean top order and bowled them out one after the other. Velalleg took the first wicket of Brendan King. After this, he hunted Roston Chase in his next over. He took the third and final wicket of Andre Fletcher.
Did a great job on T20I debut
Dunith Velalagh took the wickets of these three West Indies batsmen in 4 overs. He took all three wickets for just 9 runs. Meaning, on his T20 international debut, he took 3 wickets for 9 runs in 4 overs. After losing the wickets of three of its big batsmen in just 7 overs, the West Indies team could never get back on track and were bowled out for 89 runs. In this way, Sri Lanka won the match by 73 runs. Vellalaghe could not be the hero of the win i.e. player of the match in his T20I debut. But his performance was not below that standard.
There is an old habit of dismissing scoundrels.
It was not a surprise to see Vellaledge dismiss the formidable West Indies batsmen on his T20I debut as he was already used to it. Among Indian batsmen, he has dismissed Rohit, Virat, Gill, KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya in a single ODI match. Among other batsmen in the world, he has dismissed greats like Steve Smith, David Warner, Glenn Maxwell and Marnus Labuschagne.
