LASITH Malinga has ripped the heart out of the Perth Scorchers, returning the best Twenty20 bowling figures in Australia.
The Melbourne Stars recruit took wickets in each of his four overs and bowled an incredible 20 dot balls in snaring six wickets for just seven runs as the Scorchers were routed for 69 in 15.2 overs, the lowest team total in Australian T20 history.
A devastating combination of yorkers, searing bouncers and perfectly flighted slower balls completely bamboozled the Scorchers.
Rain almost dashed the Stars’ victory charge when they’d been rocketing along at 0-29 after two overs.
But after more than an hour’s delay, Luke Wright (23 off 11 balls) and Rob Quiney (1 off 2) returned to face just one ball for the Stars to win on the Duckworth-Lewis method in a controversial finish.
“It’s farcical at the end,” Scorchers coach Justin Langer said “We didn’t deserve to win, but it’s a shame the game ended like this.”
Wright had savaged four fours and a six before the rain, but the unusual finish couldn’t take the gloss off the devastating combination of Malinga yorkers, searing bouncers and perfectly aligned slower balls that completely bamboozled the Scorchers.
Source: Daily Telegraph (Australia)
