11 Interesting facts about Dimitri Mascarenhas

Published - 30 Oct 2015, 18:28 IST | Updated - 30 Oct 2015, 18:28 IST

3 Min Read

11 Interesting facts about Dimitri Mascarenhas: Mascarenhas, born on 30^th October 1977, is best known for his blitzkrieg knock of 36 off 15 balls at The Oval one dayer against India on 5^th September 2007. Dimitri Mascarenhas not only hit 5 sixes in 5 balls in the final over of Yuvraj Singh in the match but also helped England reach 300 plus when it seemed impossible.

However, he didn’t get that much opportunity to justify his spot in the England’s national cricket team bringing in the pertinent question that was he only a one-match wonder? But facts reveal something else. Dimitri Mascarenhas has much more talent and immense cricketing skills that make him a good all-rounder.

1. Born and brought up:

Dimitri Mascarenhas was born in London to a Sri Lankan couple, while he grew up and studied in Perth.

2. Early days:

Dimitri Mascarenhas attended his schooling in Perth, Australia. Dimitri Mascarenhas’ buddies were the likes of Simon Katich, Craig Sergeant and others. However, Dimitri Mascarenhas went to England for further polishing his cricketing skills.

3. County cricket success:

Dimitri Mascarenhas was highly popular for his all-round skills in county cricket. Dimitri Mascarenhas kept bowling well with spells like 7/64 and 6/63 and eventually succeeded in scoring the first Rose Bowl Century against Worcestershire.

4. First hat-trick in T20:

Dimitri Mascarenhas was the first person to claim a hat-trick in a twenty-twenty match. Dimitri Mascarenhas picked up the important wickets of Jason Lerry, Mark Davis and Mushtaq Ahmed of Sussex finishing his spell with 5 for 14 in 2004 when T-20 cricket was not that much popular.

5. Excellency at peak:

Dimitri Mascarenhas’ 18-year long and spectacular cricket career consists of more than 12000-runs and 900-wickets across all formats of the game.

6. Shane Warne’s words:

Impressed by Dimitri Mascarenhas’ consistent form, legendary Aussie skipper, Shane Warne, stated him as the best English finisher with the bat in all situations who didn’t get enough chance to do more for his side.

7. Yuvraj Singh’s horror:

Believe it or not, Dimitri Mascarenhas hit the Indian, who is a part time yet good left-arm spinner for 5 sixes off the final 5 balls of England’s innings in the ODI against India.

8. Four sixes off four balls:

A few matches later, Dimitri Mascarenhas was once again successful in hitting 4 consecutive sixes off 4 balls in a match against New Zealand in a T20 match in the same year.