Chanaka Welegedara equalled Chris Morris’s record of the most economical figures in Twenty20 cricket after bowling the full quota of four overs on Sunday (April 5).
Playing for Tamil Union against Sinhalese Sports Club in Sri Lanka Cricket’s T20 tournament at the Colombo Cricket Club, Welegedara returned figures of 4-2-2-4.
While Morris too had conceded only two runs in his four overs for Highveld Lions against Cape Cobras in South Africa’s Ram Slam T20 Challenge last November, he had bowled one extra maiden over but taken two wickets less to finish with a final analysis of 4-3-2-2.
Defending 142, Tamil Union bundled out SSC for 97 with Welegedara hogging the limelight for most of the 15.3 overs of play. Introduced into the attack as a first-change bowler, Welegedara struck for the first time in the fifth over when he had Minod Bhanuka, the opener, caught by Ramith Rambukwella, and two balls later, Thilina Kandamby was bowled. Then, Rambukwella chipped in with another catch to send Sachithra Senanayake back in the first ball of Welegedara’s next over. In the 11th over of the innings, Charith Jayampathi was trapped in front of the wicket as Welegedara, who has played only two Twenty20 Internationals so far, recorded his first-ever four-wicket haul in the game’s shortest format.
Before Welegedara joined Morris in the record books, the honours for the most economical figures in T20 cricket after bowling the full quota of four overs was shared by Zulfiqar Babar (2 for 3 for Tigers against Quetta Bears in Lahore in December 2012), Shoaib Malik (1 for 3 for Barbados Tridents against Antigua Hawksbills in North Sound in August 2013) and Sunil Narine (0 for 3 for Guyana Amazon Warriors against Antigua Hawksbills in St George’s in July 2014).
