Watch: Chamara Silva tries an outrageous shot, ends up embarrassing himself
In order to confound the bowler, Sri Lankan batsman Chamara Silva tried to come up with one of the most outrageous shots in the history of the game. While looking to up the ante in the death overs, the 37-year old danced backwards and attempted to play the ball from behind the stumps. However, he only ended up embarrassing himself by swinging at thin air even as the ball crashed onto the stumps.
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The interesting incident happened during the 25th edition of the Singer MCA Premier League T20 Tournament. In a semi-final clash between MAS Unichela and Teejay Lanka at the P Sara Oval in Colombo, Chamara left everyone in a state of utter disbelief by resorting to a bizarre strategy in the penultimate over of the innings.
Watch Chamara Silva's outrageous shot
Chamara steals the limelight from Rambukwella
Upon winning the toss, Teejay Lanka captain Milinda Siriwardane inserted the opposition to bat first on what appeared to be a benign surface. All-rounder Ramith Rambukwella set the stage for MAS Unichela by hammering a 52-ball 105.
The southpaw's blistering knock contained as many as 11 sixes apart from three boundaries. A strong bowling attack comprising of the likes of Dhammika Prasad and Nuwan Pradeep had no answer to the hard-hitting batsman's pyrotechnics.
Rambukwella's century had established a strong platform for the lower middle-order to express themselves in the end overs. Chamara Silva tried to do exactly that during the fifth delivery of the 19th over of the innings. Even before the bowler could get into his delivery stride, the right-hander backpedaled in a bizarre manner and found himself well behind the stumps.
What followed was even more hilarious as he swung his bat after the ball had smashed into the leg-stump. Needless to say, his inexplicable strategy not only ended up embarrassing him but also induced complete bewilderment from the other players in the field. Nonplussed at his unique dismissal, Chamara trudged off the arena in sheepish fashion. Eventually, MAS Unichela finished their innings at 208 for the loss of eight wickets.
Brief Scores (Courtesy: ThePapare.com)
MAS Unichela - 208/8 from 20 overs (Ramith Rambukwella 105, Mahela Udawatte 36, Nuwan Pradeep 2/38, Dhammika Prasad 2/44)
Teejay Lanka - 156 from 18.4 overs (Charith Asalanka 40, Shalika Karunanayake 26, Farveez Maharoof 3/17, Anuk Fernando 3/37, TM Dilshan 2/17)
Chasing such a massive target, Teejay Lanka was undone by the spells of stalwarts Farveez Maharoof and Tillakaratne Dilshan. While the seamer picked up three wickets for just 17 runs, the off-spinner chipped in with a couple of vital scalps for the same amount of runs. MAS Unichela completed an emphatic 52-run victory to enter the final of the tournament. They would eventually go on to clinch the title by defeating Dimo in the summit clash.
A game, which produced a scintillating century from Rambukwella, became extremely popular among social media for Chamara's bizarre dismissal. It is pertinent to note that he is a veteran of 11 Tests, 75 ODIs and 16 T20Is. His last appearance for Sri Lanka came in a T20I against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi in 2011.
A couple of months back, Chamara had received a two-year suspension from all 'cricket-related activities' by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for his alleged role in contriving to manipulate the result of a Tier B first-class fixture between Panadura Sports Club and Kalutara Physical Culture Club.
Apparently, the game was played in dubious fashion in order to secure promotion and avoid relegation for the respective sides. However, Chamara was later temporarily allowed to take the field for domestic matches after he had appealed against his ban.
Haddin's Blast from the Past
This was not the first instance of a batsman trying such an outrageous tactic against a fast bowler. More than twelve years ago, former Australian wicket-keeper batsman Brad Haddin had attempted such an inexplicable strategy against Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar.
During a limited-overs match between Australia 'A' and Pakistan at Adelaide in 2005, Haddin looked to counter Akhtar's raw pace by walking backwards and playing the ball from behind the stumps.
Watch Brad Haddin's bizarre shot against Shoaib Akhtar