Sri Lanka’s younger sensation Danuth Wellalage is over the moon after getting the prized wickets of India captain Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli within the Asia Cup Super 4 match towards India in Colombo.
Wellalage ran via India’s top-order, returning with beautiful figures of 5 wickets for 40 runs, serving to Sri Lanka prohibit India to 213. Apart from Kohli and Rohit, Wellalage additionally dismissed the likes of Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill, and KL Rahul.
“For me, Virat Kohli is the No. 1 batsman. I am very happy to have got those two (Kohli and Rohit) big wickets. I trust my basics, and trust myself,” Wellalage mentioned within the post-match press meet.
The 20-year-old mentioned he was attempting to bowl a wicket-to-wicket line towards star Indian batters.
“The batters were set and India had got off to a fabulous start. I just tried to bowl wicket to wicket. Once we got those three wickets in three overs, we were able to put India under pressure. There was a turn and when you put the ball in the right area, you could unsettle the batsmen. But I would have been happier with a win,” Wellalage added.
Despite limiting India to 213, Sri Lanka may solely handle 172, shedding by 41 runs. Later, Wellalage made an impression with the bat as properly, scoring 42 runs off 46 balls. The left-handed batter shared a 63-run stand for the seventh wicket with Dhananjaya de Silva, reviving Sri Lanka’s possibilities of victory.
“I just tried to support him. We didn’t want to take any risks. His plan was to try and get closer to India’s total,” he mentioned.
Sri Lanka will face Pakistan in a digital knockout match, with the winner advancing to a title match towards India on September 17.
Wellalage hoped his workforce may attain the ultimate.
“We have played four matches so far and we are happy that we have won three of them. The larger picture is that we have got one more game remaining. We still have a chance to make it to the finals, and hopefully, we will pull it off,” he added.
Published On:
Sep 13, 2023
