Sri Lankan spinner Herath Mudiyanselage Rangana Keerthi Bandara Herath retired from limited-overs cricket on Sunday. He will continue to play Test cricket. The 38-year-old picked 74 wickets from 71 ODIs and 18 from 17 T20Is. He missed out on many games early in his career as Muttiah Muralitharan was expectedly the preferred spinner. However, since the spin legend’s retirement, Herath shouldered the spin attack. Suvajit Mustafi looks at 5 top performances by the Sri Lankan spin star.
1. 3 for 28 vs South Africa at Dambulla, 2004 (ODI)
Sri Lanka had won the first two matches of the series, and were looking to seal it at Dambulla against a strong South African. In the absence of Murali, Herath was expected to don extra responsibility. The wicket was not easy for batting. Herschelle Gibbs and Jacques Kallis were building a good partnership. Herath, playing in his fifth ODI, got Gibbs stumped for 49, and got Kallis for 52. His third wicket was of Mark Boucher. South Africa were bowled out for 191 and Herath finished with 3 for 28 from 8 overs. Sri Lankan skipper Marvan Atapattu, with a defiant 97 not out, saw Sri Lanka home. They sealed the series.
2. 3 for 25 vs Pakistan at RPS, Colombo (T20I), ICC World T20 2012 semi-final
Sri Lanka had suffered heartbreak against Pakistan in ICC World T20 final, 2009. The sides met again in the semi-final of the 2012 edition; this time it was in Sri Lanka’s backyard. The Pakistani spinners bowled exceptionally to restrict Lanka to 139. It was up to Herath, Lasith Malinga and Ajantha Mendis. Pakistan started cautiously, but Herath chipped in with key wickets again. First, he squared up Shoaib Malik, knocking off his off-stump; then he tossed up one to get the well-set Mohammad Hafeez stumped; and with the next ball he cleaned-up Shahid Afridi, Sri Lanka’s tormentor in the 2009 World T20 final, with a carrom-ball. Pakistan could not recover from these jolts as Sri Lanka proceeded to the win with 16-run win.
3. 4 for 20 vs India at Port of Spain, Tri-series final, 2013 (ODI)
By the time Herath finished his spell, Sri Lanka had almost pocketed the tri-series final against India. Earlier, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin had combined well to restrict Sri Lanka to 201. India were looking good with the chase till the time Rohit Sharma was at the crease. From 139 for 3, India were soon reduced to 182 for 9. Herath created the in-roads in Indian batting, cleaning up Rohit, then dismissing Dinesh Karthik and the spin-bowling all-rounders, Ashwin and Jadeja. Herath’s figures read: 10-2-20-4; they remained his best bowling figures in ODIs.
It took a spectacular batting show from MS Dhoni in the last over to help India win the match, while Ishant Sharma supported him with a resilient two not out. With 15 needed from the last over, Dhoni smacked Shaminda Eranga for 6, 4 and 6.
4. 3 for 25 vs South Africa at RPS, Colombo, 2013 (ODI)
Kumar Sangakkara struck a belligerent 169 as Sri Lanka put up 320 in the first ODI of the series at Colombo. South Africa were going strong and had put up 73 for 2 in the 12th over. Skipper AB de Villiers looked dangerous and had raced to 23 from 18 balls when Herath struck. He got the ball to flight; AB readied himself for an inside-out stroke; and the ball spun sharply and accounted for the batsman’s off-stump. That was the start of a collapse and South Africa were bowled out for 140 in the 32nd over. Herath’s figures read 8.5-1-25-3.
5. 5 for 3 vs New Zealand at Chittagong, ICC World T20 2014 (T20I)
It was certainly not a good feeling for Herath to watch his side collapse from the dugout. New Zealand were already sniffing a win after bowling out Sri Lanka for 119. New Zealand were 18 for no loss after 3 overs when Herath was introduced into the attack. What the cricket world witnessed was one of the greatest spells in limited-overs cricket. Herath spun a web around the Kiwis, bundling them out for 60 in the 16th over. Herath ended with 3 for 5 from 3.3 overs. Sri Lanka ended up as the tournament champions.
(Suvajit Mustafi consumes cricket for lunch, fiction for dinner and munches numerous other snacks throughout the day. Yes, a jack of several trades, all Suvajit dreamt of was being India’s World Cup winning skipper but ended up being a sports writer, author, screenwriter, director, copywriter, graphic designer, sports marketer, strategist, entrepreneur, philosopher and traveller. Donning so many hats, it’s cricket which gives him the ultimate high and where he finds solace. He can be followed at @RibsGully and rivu7)
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