It was a Matheesha Pathirana day in Visakhapatnam on Sunday, March 31 as the Sri Lankan pacer was everywhere on the field for Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Whether taking stunning catches or throwing 150 kph bullets as it seemed like he single-handedly took the onus to defeat the Delhi Capitals in the Men in Blue's adopted home ground. The Capitals got off to an exceptional start with the openers David Warner and Prithvi Shaw scoring 62 runs in the powerplay.
The duo kept going even after the field restrictions as both Warner and Shaw added 31 runs in three and a half overs before Pathirana decided to break the partnership despite not bowling the 10th over of the innings. Mustafizur bowled a slower ball outside the off-stump and Warner switched his stance to play a reverse lap. However, Pathirana, who was stationed at third man flung himself into the air and timed his jump to perfection as he grabbed the ball with his one hand with a full-length dive.
MS Dhoni too was surprised that Pathirana actually grabbed it, as was Warner, who couldn't believe what he just saw. CSK players were quickly around Pathirana as they knew what he just did.
Watch the video here:
If that wasn't enough, Pathirana went on to dismiss Mitchell Marsh and Tristan Stubbs with pin-point yorkers in the same over as that over played a huge part in restricting the Capitals below 200. Pathirana also dismissed Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant in his final over after going for 17 runs in the over.
Pant and Warner smashed fifties and helped Delhi get a score of 191, which is four more than average first-innings winning total at this venue. However, they would feel that they left a few runs out there.
