Sri Lanka’s magical Test debutant, Praveen Jayawickrama, who claimed career best figures of11 for 178 in Sri Lanka’s 209-run win over Bangladesh in their second Test in Pallekele, has burst among the top 50 ICC best bowlers as the 48th in the rankings. e
Twenty-two-year-old Jayawickrama’s match haul was the best by a Sri Lankan on Test debut. He took 6 for 92 in the first innings and 5 for 86.
Indeed, in the game of cricket of records after records, the left-arm spin colt’s Everest feat has set him apart as the King ahead of a generation of bowling greats from the most elite cricket playing countries.
Born on September 30, 1998, the emergence of this native from Moratuwa who cut his teeth in the game at St. Sebastian’s College has certainly marked a turnaround in Sri Lanka’s cricketing fortunes from the mediocre to ominous going by the turning of tables on a well-oiled Bangladesh outfit. His 1-wicket haul on debut the first since Jason Kreiza in 2008, saw Bangladesh skittled out for 227 with Ramesh Mendis chipping in with 4 for 103. It also marked a fantastic showmanship of the host team’s new found left-right spin combination. Jayawickrama averaged 16.18 at an economy rate of 2.78.
The rhyming high point of this cricketing saga in international cricket’s over century old history is that the young Sri Lankan, hailing from the cricket crazy city of Moratuwa has certainly dwarfed the mighty from among the top countries.
Jayawickrama’s 11 wickets cascades in the portals of lasting fame in the wicket taking industry.
Born on September 30, 1998, the emergence of this native from Moratuwa, who cut his teeth in the game at St. Sebastian’s College, while signaling the arrival of a colt with the gift of buying wickets with an effective arm, has with it marked a turnaround in Sri Lanka’s cricketing fortunes. Indeed, going by his magnificent maiden performance it lit up the country’s bowling mechanism from the mediocre to the ominous in turning of tables on a well-oiled Bangladesh outfit.
From a Sri Lankan point of view, the 1-nil series win also marked a new chapter in the payoff twosome youth investment in the spin bowling department with 25-year old all-rounder Ramesh Mendis also chipping in with 4 for 103 in a 5-wicket match haul
