Matheesha Pathirana, a 19-year-old Sri Lankan pacer who plays for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, took his first IPL wicket on Sunday, May 15, when he dismissed Gujarat Titans (GT) opener, Shubman Gill, in the 62nd match of the IPL 2022 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Pathirana, who has a bowling action that is extremely similar to that of famed bowler Lasith Malinga, made his IPL debut in CSK’s second last Indian Premier League 2022 game and took a wicket with his first ball.
Matheesha Pathirana impresses on CSK debut
On Sunday, Sri Lankan fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana made an impression in his IPL debut for Chennai Super Kings. Pathirana finished with figures of 2 for 24 after 3.1 overs, dismissing Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya.
Watch the video: Welcome to IPL: Matheesha Pathirana gets Gill’s first ball (iplt20.com)
Pathirana’s participation, which came in as a replacement for Adam Milne, was one of four changes made by the Super Kings’ management in the starting eleven. Shubman Gill was dismissed by the 19-year-old with the opening delivery of his spell when he was trapped lbw by a ball that skidded through after pitching on a length.
Later, when attempting to play a full-length delivery on off-stump, Hardik turned the face of the bat too early and was dismissed for 7, the ball ballooning off the ridge of the bat to the fielder at mid-off.
Pathirana represented Sri Lanka at the U-19 World Cup earlier this year, taking seven wickets in four matches. Apart from his ability with the bat, his bowling movement bears a remarkable resemblance to Lasith Malinga’s.
Meanwhile, batting first, the Chennai Super Kings batters struggled against the GT bowling unit. CSK lost Devon Conway in the powerplay and was reduced to 47/1. In the ninth over, Sai Kishore dismissed all-rounder Moeen Ali for 21 to give GT a second breakthrough.
Gaikwad’s 49-ball 53-run effort came to an end on the 16th over’s final ball, bowled by Rashid Khan. CSK continued to bat slowly after that and was able to achieve 133/5.
Gujarat Titans completed the chase in the final over of the innings and won the match by 7 wickets.
