"Dhoni’s eye for talent is unmatched"- Fans react to Matheesha Pathirana's 4-wicket haul vs Bangladesh on Asia Cup debut for Sri Lanka
Young Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana received plaudits from fans after his magnificent bowling spell against Bangladesh in the second match of Asia Cup 2023 on Thursday, August 31. He scalped a four-wicket haul to help Sri Lanka bundle out Bangladesh for 164 in the first innings of the match at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and opted to bat first in the contest. The side got off to a poor start as Lankan off-spinner Maheesh Theekshana dismissed opener Tanzid Hasan for a two-ball duck in the second over.
Mohammad Naim (16) and Najmul Hossain Shanto batted defensively for a few overs. Dhananjaya de Silva broke the stand before it flourished by scalping the wicket of Naim.
Matheesha Pathirana came onto the bowl after the powerplay in the 11th over. He made an instant impact by picking up the prized wicket of Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan (5) on his fourth delivery. Pahtirana then, unfortunately, missed out on a wicket after the Sri Lankans failed to appeal when Mushfiqur Rahim edged a ball in the 31st over.
It did not prove too costly for the Sri Lankans as Pathirana dismissed Mushfiqur in the 33rd over with a short ball. Bangladesh batter Najmul Hossain Shanto (89) held the innings together by playing the anchor role perfectly at one end but he did not receive much support.
Maheesh Theekshana dismissed him in the 42nd over to seemingly end Bangladesh's hopes of crossing the 200-run mark. He then wrapped up the tail quickly with wonderful yorker-length balls.
Fans were impressed with Pathirana after his magnificent bowling performance against Bangladesh. They credited MS Dhoni and CSK management for backing him and honing his skills during IPL.
Here are some of the best Twitter reactions to Pathirana's performance:
"Really happy that I got a chance to play in the 50-over format" - Matheesha Pathirana
At the mid-innings break, Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana reflected on his four-wicket haul and said:
"Really happy that I got a chance to play in the 50-over format, last time I played was back in the Qualifiers, guess I did well today. The wicket was pretty dead in the first half, but later we had something off it, hence tried a lot of slower ones. Very difficult to switch to 50 over format from the 20 over format, I can manage I feel."