Sri Lanka fast bowling spearhead Lasith Malinga on Thursday reached the rare landmark of 300 wickets after he dismissed the well set Virat Kohli in the ongoing 4th ODI at Colombo. The wicket was a double delight or rather say a desperate relief for the hosts after what they went through in the early part of innings.
The Indian skipper looked in marauding form, batting like an immortal to leave Sri Lanka to do nothing but to wait for luck to change its course. After the early fall of Dhawan, Kohli and Sharma combined to whack the Lankan all around the park.
In this process, Kohli also went on to complete his 29th ODI hundred and overtake Sanath Jayasuriya to become the 3rd highest century maker in the ODI format, standing behind only Ricky Ponting (30) and Sachin Tendulkar (49).
However, after trying everything to break the stand, Malinga, who is also the stand in skipper for the match, decided to bring himself in the attack. The move paid off, as Kohli failed to get past the deep cover and was caught.
The Lankan team along with his Mumbai Indians teammate Rohit Sharma all congratulated him for this superb feat. This dismissal has now taken Malinga into the elite 300 plus wicket club. Only 12 players have achieved this distinction in this format. Muthiah Muralitharan (534 wickets) top the list. Two more Sri Lankan – Chaminda Vaas (400) and Sanath Jayasuriya (323) – also feature in the list at the fourth and tenth position, respectively.
Wishes to play till 2023
It might sound overly ambitious but Malinga, currently 36-year-old, is aiming to play till 2013. He revealed this fact a few days ago, before the start of the third ODI dayer in Pallekele.
“I’m ready to play until 2023,” Malinga said.