Asia Cup, Dunith Wellalage stuns India: Decoding his career stats
Dunith Wellalage was the star for Sri Lanka in their Super Four clash against India in the 2023 Asia Cup at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The 20-year-old left-arm spinner registered his maiden ODI fifer as he finished with 5/40 from his 10 overs. Wellalage made the ball turn from the ideal angle, which didn't allow the Indian batters to settle. Here's more.
A match to remember for Wellalage
The young left-arm spinner knocked over Shubman Gill with his first delivery of the match. Wellage deceived Virat Kohli as the ball stuck on the pitch and was slower. He outfoxed a well-settled Rohit Sharma in the 16th over. He later came back to break to remove KL Rahul before claiming Hardik Pandya's wicket on the last ball of his quota.
Fourth SL spinner with an ODI fifer against India
Wellalage became the fourth SL spinner to claim an ODI fifer against India. Muthiah Muralidharan, Ajantha Mendis and Akila Dananjaya are the three SL spinners to scalp ODI fifers before the 20-year-old's historic feat. Muralidharan has scalped the most wickets in India-SL ODI clashes with 74 dismissals in 63 ODIs. His best figures against India are 7/30, which came in the 2000 Champions Trophy.
Wellalage's rise to prominence
Wellalage rose to prominence following his all-round exploits at the 2022 Under-19 World Cup, where he led Sri Lanka. He scalped 17 wickets from six matches in the tournament at an impressive average of 13.58. The youngster was also prolific with the bat, scoring 264 runs at a decent average of 44, as he ended up as SL's highest run-scorer.
A look at his ODI numbers
The 20-year-old left-arm spinner has raced to 18 wickets in 13 ODIs at an average of 24.16. Wellalage has maintained an economy rate of 5.30. As mentioned, this was his maiden fifer in this format. He has now scalped nine wickets in the 2023 Asia Cup, the joint-most with Pakistan's Haris Rauf and Bangladesh's Taskin Ahmed, who have also scalped nine wickets each.
