Top 5 Cricketers of the Week – 17th January – 22nd January

#5 Lakshan Sandakan – 4/23 v South Africa, Johannesburg

Lakshan Sandakan had a debut to remember

25-year old Sandakan, bowling left-arm chinaman, became Sri Lanka’s unlikely hero on debut, picking up four wickets against South Africa to set up a feasible chase in the second T20I between the two teams. Sandakan picked up a wicket each in the 7^th and 9^th over of the innings before picking two more in the 12^th over to rock the Saffers and prevent them from getting any partnership going.

Eventually, South Africa managed 113. Sri Lanka huffed and puffed in the chase, finding themselves on 35 for 3 and later on 97 for 6 before their skipper Angelo Mathews pulled it off with an unbeaten 50-ball 53 despite twisting his ankle towards the end. Mathews won the Player of the Match but it was Sandakan who made the victory possible.