Lasith Malinga by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Player:

SL Malinga

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DateLine: 7th May 2009

 

Lasith Malinga bowls with a unique round-arm action which generates genuine pace and can disconcert batsmen who struggle to pick up the ball. Rated as the fastest bowler in Sri Lanka he was included in the Test team, and he acquitted himself quite well by dismissing Darren Lehmann and the dangerous Adam Gilchrist in the same over. He is developing into Sri Lanka's key pace-bowling wicket-taker, especially as Chaminda Vaas relies more on subtle changes in pace. A genuine strike bowler, with both new ball and old, his development as an all-round bowler was confirmed when he was the leading wicket-taker in the one-day series against England. He continued to impress in the Champions Trophy and on tour in New Zealand - where his yorkers found its target consistently. He established himself as a regular in the playing XI after an impressive World Cup in 2007, with 18 wickets at 15.77 from eight matches as Sri Lanka made it to the final. One of the moments of the tournament was Malinga's four in four against South Africa - the first time a bowler had taken four wickets off successive deliveries in international cricket.