Watch: Lasith Malinga returns and so does the Yorker

Published - 15 Feb 2017, 17:39 IST | Updated - 15 Feb 2017, 17:39 IST

2 Min Read

Sri Lanka has been struggling – struggling to survive on the cricket field. After the retirement of their legends, the void has been so big that the young inexperienced names coming in have failed miserably to hold the team together. They have been all over the place as a team though did well to win the T20I series 2-1 over the Proteas in South Africa. The Lankans are in Australia but are a bolstered unit now with the comeback of Lasith Malinga.

The pacer who has struggled with knee injuries for quite some time now was out of action for almost a year was named in the T20I squad for the tour of Australia. Ahead of the three-match series they were to play a practice match against the Australian Prime Minister’s XI led by Adam Voges at Canberra. Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bowl first.

Here he was back on the cricket field after a year bowling at young Aussie batsmen. On just the fourth ball of the match, Malinga showed why he is such a dangerous bowler. D’Arcy Short who probably had little knowledge of what was coming his way went for a drive. It was a fuller delivery from the Slinger and it swung a bit in the air to come into Short. He completely missed his shot and the ball knew where it had to go.

It crashed into the middle stump and Short’s timber went for a toss. What a delightful sight it was to one see Malinga back in action and two do what he does best shatter stumps. PM XI posted 169/6 in their quota of 20 overs which the Sri Lankan team overhauled in just 17.1 overs with 5 wickets in hand.