5 best bowling performances of Lasith Malinga in international cricket

Here, we will take a look at some of the best bowling performances of Lasith Malinga in his international career so far.He has completed a decade in International cricket and the first thing that springs to our minds when his name is being mentioned, are his lethal yorkers.His impact particularly in the shorter formats hasbeen so immense that he has been considered the go-to man for all the teams he has represented around the world. Here are five of his best performances:

#5 5 for 31 vs England (2012)

Five wickets in a T20 is one of the most remarkable feats a bowler can ever achieve and Lasith did exactly that against England in the T20 World Cup in 2012.

Chasing 170 to win, Malinga derailed the chase as early as in the 3rd over when he picked three wickets to hand the Lankans an early initiative.

Samit Patel was England’s lone warrior that night and Malinga came back in the 19th over to pick him as well along with England’s slim hopes. He was rightfully named the player of the match.

#4 5 for 52 vs Pakistan (2014)

The 2014 Asia Cup in Bangladesh had Sri Lanka and Pakistan playing the first match and it happened to be a thriller.

Batting first, Sri Lanka made a commanding 296 in their 50 overs. In reply, Pakistan were struggling at 121 for 4, but that’s where Umar Akmal and Captain Misbah started the recovery and at one point the runs started coming very fast and Pakistan were well on course to win the game.

Slinga Malinga, who had 3 overs up his sleeve, came in and picked Afridi and Misbah in the same over and finished with a 5-wicket haul to seal a dramatic Lankan win.

#3 5 for 50 vs India (2010)

This Test made all the headlines for being Muttiah Muralitharan’s farewell Test and he picked up the 8 remaining wickets to get to 800. But it was also Malinga’s comeback Test after almost three years and how well he responded to the occasion with a five-wicket haul that included the wickets of Gambhir, Dravid, Tendulkar and Dhoni to help Sri Lanka achieve a thumping win over their neighbours.

Sadly though, he went on to play only one more Test.

#2 5 for 34 vs Pakistan (2010)

It was the first match of the 2010 Asia Cup and what a game of twists and turns it was, with Malinga providing the crucial knock out blows in the end to hand Sri Lanka a 16 run win while defending 242.

In his first spell, he removed Salman Butt and Umar Amin. During his final spell, the game had reached its climax with Pakistan requiring 26 runs off six overs with Abdul Razzaq being one of the batsmen.

He removed the tail enders one by one and clinched a memorable win for the Lankans.

#1 4 in 4 vs South Africa (2007)

This came in a losing cause, but will still be ranked his best performance ever for Sri Lanka. It was the Super Eights of the 2007 World Cup, and Sri Lanka made just 209 batting first against South Africa.

It was a comfortable run chase for the Proteas and at one point they needed just four runs from 32 deliveries with five wickets in hand.

That’s when Malinga weaved his magic by nicking out four wickets in four consecutive deliveries that sent the entire South African dressing room in to a state of shock.

But their last wicket pair managed to get the remaining runs in the end, but only just.

Malinga shared the Man of the Match award with South Arica’s Charl Langeveldt.