Upul Tharanga’s ‘Unwanted Feat
August 17, 2010 by S. Pervez Qaiser
Filed under Stats and Records
Upul Tharanga became the second Sri Lankan batsman after Roshan Mahanama and 10th batsman overall to be dismissed on the first ball of the match twice.
The Sri Lanka opener achieved this ‘unwanted feat’ when right-arm medium pacer Praveen Kumar bowled him with the first delivery of the match at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium on Monday (August 16).
Zaheer Khan was the bowler when Upul Tharanga was out off the first ball of the match at Delhi on December 27, 2009.
It was first time in 42 one day matches when Praveen Kumar claimed a wicket off the very first ball of the match. He became the third Indian bowler on fifth occasion to take a wicket on very first ball of the match. Overall it was happeded 56th time when a batsman dismissed on the very first ball of the match.
Australian Adam Gilchrist is the only batsman to achieve this unwanted feat thrice while Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka), Rameez Raja (Pakistan), John Wright (New Zealand), Philo Wallace (West Indies), Sherwin Campbell (West Indies), Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa),Marcus Trescothick (England) and Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh) did the same twice before Upul Tharanga.
SRI LANKAN WHO DISMISSED ON THE FIRST BALL OF THE MATCH:
| Roshan Mahanama Ct by Mark Taylor | Craig McDermott (Aus) | Colombo | 5/9/1992 |
| Roshan Mahanama Ct by Lee Germon | Chris Pringle (N.Z) | Bloemfontein | 8/12/1994 |
| Asanka Gurusinha Ct by Aminul Islam | Saiful Islam (Bang) | Sharjah | 7/4/1995 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya Bowled | Zaheer Khan (India) | Colombo | 30/09/ 2002 |
| Upul Tharanga Bowled | Zaheer Khan (India) | Delhi | 27/12/2009 |
| Upal Tharanga Bowled | Praveen Kumar (India) | Dambulla | 16/08/2010 |
