Who is Prabath Jayasuriya? The Sri Lankan spinner who bamboozled the New Zealand batting order

In the first Test of the 2-match series between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya starred for the Lankan Lions and his fantastic 5-wicket haul in the final innings carried the hosts to victory in Galle.

Riding on a century by Kamindu Mendis, Sri Lanka posted 305 runs in the first innings before getting bundled out. Fifties from Tom Latham, Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell saw the Kiwis take a slender 35-run lead as they got bundled out for 340. Though Jayasuriya ended up going for 136 runs in his spell of 40 overs, he also managed to clinch 4 important wickets.

In their second innings, Sri Lanka got bundled out for 309, setting up a target of 275 for the hosts. The match looked to be in New Zealand’s grasp, however it was taken away from them by Jayasuriya who took the important wickets of Williamson and Glenn Phillips. He ended up taking 3 scalps on the fourth day to restrict the Black Caps to 207/8 as the day ended.

Jayasuriya took the important wicket of Rachin on fifth day

Then, on the fifth day, Jayasuriya put the final nail in New Zealand’s coffin by dismissing Rachin Ravindra who was batting on 92. He would then complete his 5-wicket haul by taking the wicket of Will O’Rourke as the Kiwis got bundled out for 211 and Sri Lanka won the match by 63 runs. Jayasuriya was deservedly awarded with the Player of the Match award during the post-match presentation.

Interestingly, Jayasuriya, who made his Test debut in 2022, may be a well-established bowler for Sri Lanka in the format, but he has only made 2 appearances for them in ODI’s and is yet to make his T20I debut. The 32-year-old has so far played 15 Test matches for Sri Lanka, taking 88 wickets. His best bowling figures of 7/52 in the format came against Ireland in April, 2023.

Jayasuriya has also been quite impressive in first-class cricket, racking up a total of 425 wickets in 101 matches.

However, he wasn’t impressive at all in the 2 appearances that he made for Sri Lanka in one-day cricket back in 2018 against South Africa and didn’t manage to rack up a single wicket. That is why he was soon dropped from the team.

Though he may not have made his T20I debut till now, Jayasuriya has featured in franchise cricket and also played in the recently-concluded Lankan Premier League. The 32-year-old 64 T20 matches and has taken 83 wickets with his best figures being that of 4/8. He is expected to keep on featuring in future T20 tournaments as well.

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