Wanindu Hasaranga (right)
Sri Lankan leg spinner Wanindu Hasaranga couldn't find a better way to celebrate his 24th birthday as he did not just finish with his career-best T20I bowling figure, but also managed to script the best figure by a bowler in the format on his birthday. Hasaranga pulled off the feat in the T20I series decider against India in Colombo.
Hasaranga returned with figures of 4 for 9 against India dismissing - Ruturaj Gaikwad for 14, Sanju Samson for 0, Bhuvneshwar Kumar for 16, and Varun Chakravarthy for 0. His four-over spell comprised 11 dot balls and zero boundaries.
4 for 9 is now the best figure by a bowler in T20Is on his birthday, surpassing the previous best figure of 4 for 21 scripted by South Africa's Imran Tahir against the Netherlands in 2014. This is also his best T20I figure, going past his previous best of 3 for 12 achieved in the series against West Indies earlier this year.
Hasaranga remained a key bowler for Sri Lanka as the hosts managed to restrict the depleted Indian side for a paltry 80, their third-lowest T20I score after 74 (against Australia in 2008) and 79 (against New Zealand in 2016).
Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka picked two other wickets while Dushmantha Chameera and Ramesh Mendis picked one apiece. Kuldeep Yadav was India's top scorer in the game with 23 off 28.
Sri Lanka had levelled the series against India on Wednesday with a 4-wicket win after the visitors won the opener by 38 runs.
