Lasith Malinga
Lasith Malinga (Credits: Twitter)

Veteran Sri Lanka pacer Lasith Malinga is ageing like a fine wine. While Lasith Malinga is definitely at the fag end of his illustrious career, there is absolutely no stopping him. With every passing game, he is showing the world that he still has a lot of cricket left in him. On Friday, the Sri Lankan legend added another feather to his illustrious cap with a sensational bowling spell against New Zealand.

He became the first ever bowler to take 100 wickets in T20I format in 3rd T20I against New Zealand at Pallekele. He picked up 4 wickets in as many balls to blow away New Zealand. In the process, he became  the only bowler in international cricket to have picked up 4 wickets in 4 balls twice. Malinga first achieved the feat in 2007 in a World Cup clash against South Africa.

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Chasing a below-par total of 126 in Pallekele, New Zealand got off to a steady start, picking up 12 runs from Akila Dananjaya’s 1st over. However, Lasith Malinga, in his second over, pegged them back by picking up four wickets while bowling a maiden over.

His first victim was Colin Munro and the dismissal made him the first to take 100 T20I wicket. He is also the leading wicket-taker in the shortest format of the game. Meanwhile, he was not done after the hat-trick and went on to complete his five-wicket haul.

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In his third over, he dismissed Tim Seifert to complete his 2nd 5-wicket haul in T20I cricket.  Lasith Malinga also became the first-ever bowler to pick up 2 hat-tricks in T20I cricket. Malinga had taken his 1st T20I hat-trick in a T20I match against Bangladesh in Colombo on April 2017. Notably, Malinga now has a total of 5 hat-trick in limited-overs international cricket.

Also Read: Watch – Stunning Lasith Malinga Takes Four Wickets In Four Balls

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