Madushanka has all that it takes to be a star – Vaas

Dilshan Madushanka (L) celebrates a dismissal   

By Champika Fernando in Lucknow  

A maiden and two wickets is a dream for any bowler - and Dilshan Madushanka had Australia’s destructive opener David Warner and Mr. Dependable Steven Smith trapped leg-before in his second over of the match to put them under early pressure chasing a below-par total of 210 to win their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup match at Lucknow on Monday.  
After Lahiru Kumara, who went for plenty in his four-over spell in the match (47), conceded 15 runs off the first over of the match, Madushanka had Mitchell Marsh caught off guard with a tight line and length to complete a maiden over.  

His second over was more penetrative and generated enough seam and swing to trap Warner leg-before with the first delivery. After four dot balls, Smith’s defence was beaten with a peach of an inswinger, crashing it to the pads in front of the middle stump to finish with a two-wicket maiden over.  

It looked as if he was bowling on a different track than his partner Kumara who made a mockery of his selection to the playing XI by struggling for his line and length.  
“He has come a long way within a short time,” said Sri Lanka’s bowling great Chaminda Vaas, who has seen Madushanka’s development from close quarters.  
“I am really impressed with his performance so far. He has done it consistently but there are few areas he needs to work on to make longevity,” Vaas said, adding that Madushanka has the dedication and the commitment that a fast bowler requires to be successful in international cricket.  
“He is a very skilful bowler and has improved a lot. He is consistent. He bowls fast and has all that it takes to be a star,” he analysed. “The only thing is he has to be injury-free to be someone like Trent Boult of New Zealand, one of the great left-arm seamers in world cricket.”  

Madushanka’s final figures of three for 38, which included the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne, were in vain, however, as Sri Lanka conceded the match inside 36 overs.  
Their search for a maiden win in the tournament continues. He now has the second-best bowling figures for Sri Lanka against Australia in ODI World Cups. He is only behind Vaas, who picked up three for 34 in the 2003 edition.  

While elated with his own skill, Madushanka found his team’s performance hard to swallow. After the openers gave them a solid century stand, 125 to be precise, to make a winning total, a familiar batting collapse saw Sri Lanka crashing to 209 with the last nine wickets contributing just 52 runs.  

“Happy with my own performance but at the same time, I am disappointed with the final results,” Madushanka said when asked about his terrific run in the match.  
Madushanka has seven wickets for 184 runs in 28.2 overs in the tournament so far.  

“I used the new ball well and swung it and I believe if there was a bit of support from the other end, we would have given a good fight, even though we were defending a low score,” he explained.  

“In these pitches, you need to get your line and length right and if we don’t, batters will run all over you. This is what happened to us. My strength is swing and I used it very well today and playing under lights also helped me to replicate what I do in nets at the match,” he concluded.  

Sri Lanka will play The Netherlands on Saturday, their fourth match of the tournament in Lucknow.  

Mahela Returns

By Champika Fernando in Lucknow  

Consultant coach Mahela Jayawardena returned home last night, a day after Sri Lanka suffered their third straight defeat in the ongoing World Cup but expects to join the squad again next week.  Australia beat Sri Lanka by five wickets on Monday to  become the only team without a win so far in the tournament. 

The former Sri Lankan great was with the team in India providing his valuable insight into the game to set strategies to make an impression at the World Cup but nothing has gone right so far with the team conceding defeats in all three games played so far. Sri Lanka will meet Netherlands in their next game on Saturday in Lucknow before heading to Bangalore to play England on October 26. Jayawardena is likely to join the team before the England game.