By Srian Obeyesekere

Lest it went unnoticed, it is a truly unique out of this world hall of fame feat that two Sri Lankans, namely Lasith Malinga and Chamari Atapaththu share the historic feat of claiming four wickets in four balls in ODI cricket.
That the duo happened to be two Sri Lankans to reach that pinnacle at world cricket’s biggest show on earth is as unique. Malinga at the 2007 ICC Men’s World Cup against South Africa in the Caribbean, and Athapaththu, the Skipper of the Sri Lanka Women’s team, at this year’s 2025 Women’s World Cup.

Athapaththu’s 4 for 42 haul was to shoot her up to a truly super feat never achieved by a player in women’s cricket in a different role to her more familiar batting stature that had made her a world hit as she reaped the sixth best haul at the big show in compensating for a poor run with the bat.

She was overall 29th in the World Cup bowler standings with 5 wickets for 109 runs.