Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga announced retirement from T20 cricket on Tuesday (14th September). The 38-year-old old veteran fast bowler had an incredible career for Sri Lanka in the ODI & T20I format.
He became a crucial part of the Mumbai Indians team since he joined the club in 2009. Malinga is the highest wicket-takers in the history of the cash-rich league.
He picked 170 wickets in 122 matches at an average of 16.62, including a 5-wicket haul. The Sri Lankan player also has six 4-wicket hauls to his name.
The death over specialist has bowled some critical overs for Mumbai Indians and here are some of his outstanding spells:
5/13 vs Delhi Daredevils at Arun Jaitley Stadium Delhi in IPL 2011
On 4th April 2011, Sunday afternoon, home team Delhi Daredevils won the toss and elected to bat first on a surface expected to assist the batters.
Lasith Malinga started the bowling and knocked over David Warner and Unmukt Chand for 1 and 0 respectively. This start helped Mumbai Indians to gain momentum.
In the end, Delhi Daredevils bundled out for 95 in just 17.4 overs and Malinga ended up taking his 1st 5-wicket haul in IPL. This is his best figure in IPL. His spell was 3.4 – 1-13-5
Mumbai Indians registered a comfortable victory by 8 wickets at Delhi. Moreover, Lasith Malinga was adjudged Man of the match for his amazing spell.
2/22 vs Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2013 Final
This spell is very close to the heart of every Mumbai Indians fan. At Eden Gardens on 26th May 2013, Mumbai Indians were chasing the dream of winning the IPL title for the 1st time.
The Mumbai-based franchise won the toss and choose to bat first. They lost their top 4 wickets for 52 runs in 9.3 overs. Then Kieron Pollard came to their rescue and scored 60 runs off 32 balls to help his side end the innings at 148/9 in 20 overs.
The score was not enough to defend against the might of Chennai Super Kings batting and Mumbai Indians needed early inroads to get in the game. Lasith Malinga knocked over in form Michael Hussey and Suresh Raina in 1st over of the match and it reduced Super Kings at the score of 2-2.
Super Kings couldn’t revive from these early jolts and in the end, bundled out for 125 runs. This gives Mumbai Indians their 1st IPL title. Malinga finished his spell with 4-0-22-2
4/16 vs Sunriser Hyderabad at Wankhede Stadium in IPL 2012
At home ground on 29th April 2012, Mumbai Indians opted to bowl first against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Sunrisers had a decent start with the bat. However, Malinga completely changed the dynamics of the game.
He picked up 4 wickets for 13 runs in his 3.4 overs spell and bundled out Sunrisers Hyderabad for a meagre total of 100 runs in 18.4 overs. In the chase, Mumbai Indians scored the runs quite comfortably. Lasith Malinga was adjudged Man of the Match for his superb spell.
Lasith Malinga has been a proven match-winner for Mumbai Indians for over a decade and his ability to pick wickets at crucial junctures of the game will always be missed by Mumbai Indians.