Former Sri Lankan skipper and veteran all-rounder Angelo Mathews stunned everyone with his brilliant comeback in ODI cricket. Mathews made his first appearance in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 for Sri Lanka in the ongoing 25th match of the tournament against the defending champions, England. He was introduced early into the bowling attack by stand-in skipper Kusal Mendis.
Mathews provided the early breakthrough for England in the sixth over of the first innings, scalping the wicket of dangerous opener Dawid Malan in the seventh over. Following that, Mathews also picked the wicket of the star England all-rounder Moeen Ali.
Bowling brilliant with an outstanding economy rate of just 2.80, the 36-year-old claimed two wickets at the cost of just 14 runs in his 5 overs, including one maiden over. Notably, Mathews can also be very vital cog in the wheel for Sri Lanka in the middle-order batting as he can make a perfect batter at the number 7 in the batting lineup.
England crumble against the Sri Lankan bowling attackΒ
Speaking of the action of the match between England and Sri Lanka at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, the Three Lions skipper Jos Buttler won the toss and decided to bat first. Batting first, England faced a drastic batting collapse and got bundled out on the score of just 156 runs in 33.2 overs.
Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow managed to play quite fought knocks of 43 and 30 runs, respectively. Lahiru Kumara scalped three wickets for Sri Lanka, alongside two wickets each picked by Kasun Rajitha and former skipper Angelo Mathews. Other than these, Maheesh Theekshana also bagged a scalp for his side.
While chasing the target, the Islanders are comfortably heading towards the target of 157 runs, having opener Pathum Nissanka and star middle-order batter Sadeera Samarawickrama there in the middle on the individual scores of 53 and 43 runs, respectively.
Sri Lanka have scored 113 runs for the loss of 2 wickets in 18.5 overs after losing two early wickets at the score of 23.
Hereβs how fans reacted to the amazing comeback of Angelo Mathews:
Bhai ye Angelo Mathews ab tk retirement nhi liya h π
β ΰ€ ΰ€ΰ€Ώ (@abhi7781_) October 26, 2023
Itβs beautiful to see the legend Angelo Mathews back in the team.
β Nadim. (@nadimspeaks) October 26, 2023
- Joins the squad 2 days before #ENGvSL
β Box Office Page (@Boxofficepage) October 26, 2023
- Walks into the XI and picks up 2 wickets
- Puts Sri Lanka in a winning position
Only one Angelo Mathews πππ pic.twitter.com/4SjQt9WhLN
what a great come back by Angelo Mathews #ENGvsSL
β Yasir Khan π΅πΉ (@77Yasirkhan) October 26, 2023
Angelo Mathews is playing, of course Sri Lanka will win, he was so good, happy to see him back #CWC23
β Ibex Sports (@sports_ibex) October 26, 2023
What a great come back by Angelo Mathews after long time
β Mahesh (@maheshp3654) October 26, 2023
π₯π₯