Sri Lanka made a sensational comeback against India in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023 match on Tuesday, September 12. India started brightly with an 80-run stand for the opening wicket but were struggling at 172/6 after 36 overs of play due to a stunning five-wicket spell by young spinner Dunith Wellalage.
Wellalage, the 20-year-old left-arm offspinner, gave Sri Lanka a breakthrough in the 12th over on his first delivery of the game. He bowled out settled Shubman Gill with a stunning delivery and then further shocked the Indian fans with the valuable wicket of Virat Kohli in his next over.
But the youngster further impressed with Rohit Sharma's wicket in his third over to make it three wickets in his first three-over spell. Wellalage single-handedly changed the game for Sri Lanka and went on to take the wickets of KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya as well. He also contributed to Ishan Kishan's dismissal by taking a brilliant flying catch to put in an impressive all-round performance last R Premadasa Stadium in a crucial Super 4 match.
Wellalage finished his 10 overs with Hardik's wicket on his last delivery of the match to achieve a rare feat of taking wickets on the first and last ball in ODIs. So, who is this youngster who destroyed India's star-studded batting lineup in a crucial Asia Cup game?
Who is Dunith Wellalage?
- Born in Colombo on January 9, 2003
- Natural bowling all-rounder with a slow left-arm Orthodox bowling style
- Made his ODI debut against Australia in June 2022 and took his maiden international wicket in the form of Steve Smith
- Made Test debut against Sri Lanka in July 2022
- Wellalage has taken 18 wickets in 12 innings at an economy rate of 5.30
- He bowled his best spell against India in Asia Cup 2023 where he took five wickets for 40 in 10 overs
- Wellalage captained Sri Lanka in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2022 and took five wickets in the first game
- He scored 113 runs against South Africa to become the first U19 Sri Lankan captain to score a century
- Wellalage also finished the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2022 as the leading wicket-taker with 17 wickets
- He plays for Jaffna Kings in the Lanka Premier League tournament and is yet to make his T20I debut
