Star Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga showed his class with seven wickets on his One-day international return. He achieved this milestone during the 3rd ODI match played at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on 11th January 2024.
Wanindu Hasaranga came into the playing XI replacing Jeffery Vandersay for today’s encounter. Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine won the toss and decided to bat first. Zimbabwe openers Kaitano and Gumbie began off to a great start putting pressure on the Sri Lankan bowlers. With the scoreboard reading 40 for 0 in 7.4 overs, the match was stopped due to rain.
After the break, Wanindu Hasaranga got the breakthrough dismissing Kaitano with a lovely catch by Madushanka. Zimbabwe’s openers put on 43 runs for the opening wicket. The leg spinner showed his class getting wickets of Gumbie, captain Craig Ervine and Milton Shumba in quick succession to leave Zimbabwe in trouble. The match was stopped again due to rain.
This time the match was reduced to 27 overs a side. Wanindu Hasaranga produced another superb bowling effort getting the wicket of Clive Madande going through the stumps. His bowling then got rid of Wellington Masakadza. He ended the innings by getting the wicket of Blessing Muzarbani to bowl out Zimbabwe for just 96 in 22.5 overs.
Wanindu Hasaranga produced a magical spell finishing with figures of 7 for 19 in 5.5 overs. It was a remarkable bowling effort by the star leg spinner coming back from an injury. He missed the Asia Cup 2023, and World Cup in which Sri Lanka could not qualify for the Champions Trophy 2025 to be played in Pakistan.
The star leg spinner has been named as the captain of the T20I team. He will captain in the 3-match T20I series against Zimbabwe.
Wanindu Hasaranga’s performance in ODI cricket
The star leg spinner Wanindu Hasaranga made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe on 2nd July 2017. Before his injury, he played his last 50-over match against the Netherlands in the ICC ODI qualifiers played in Zimbabwe. Hasaranga played a total of 49 matches (48 innings) and grabbed a total of 74 wickets at an economy of 5.06 runs per over with best figures of 7 for 19.
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