In another exciting day for the cricket world, Sri Lanka has comprehensively beaten Australia by an innings and 39 runs in the second test of the Australia tour of Sri Lanka. The series ended 1-1, as Australia had got the better of the Lankans in the first test.
But the biggest highlight of this second test match was the Sri Lankan debutant, Prabath Jayasuriya, who took 12 wickets in the two innings and completely surprised the Aussies.
But who is this newly found talent? Let us find out.
Who is Prabath Jayasuriya?
Neketh Gedara Roshan Prabath Jayasuriya, commonly known as Prabath Jayasuriya, is a 30-year-old left-arm off-spinner. Prabath marked his first-class cricket debut for Colombo cricket club in 2012. He picked up 234 wickets in 64 matches for them.
He made his ODI debut for Sri Lanka in 2018 but remained wicketless in the two games that he played. He had to wait for four more years to get his chance to represent the South Asian nation in white.
Jayasuriya finally made his test debut on 8th July 2022, in Galle stadium against Australia. His selection to the squad was on grounds of COVID cases in the Lankan squad. He was given an opportunity to play against the mighty Aussies, and boy did he grab it with open arms!
Record Breaker
Jayasuriya had a dream debut. He was selected as the man of the match and picked up crucial wickets of Marnus Labuschagne, Usman Khwaja, and Steve Smith along the way. If you think this was enough of an achievement for a debut, you are wrong! Prabath also broke records:
- He now has the record of having the best-ever figures on a Test debut for Sri Lanka.
- He became only the second Sri Lankan cricketer to take 10 wickets on a Test debut.
- He also joined a rare group of cricketers, and has the 4th best figures on a Test debut of all time!
For a nation that is going through an economic crisis, and its citizens struggling, this test match must have brought some joy to its citizens.
Sri Lanka seems to have found a new talent in their armory, and it would be interesting to see how they deploy him in the upcoming matches!
