Sri Lanka’s leftarm seamer Chaminda Vaas could not have been happier after his extraordinary first over that resulted in a 10-wicket loss for Bangladesh in their World Cup cricket encounter at the Pietermaritzburg Oval on Friday.
Vaas wrote his name in the record books by taking a hat-trick off the first three balls of the game and ended the match with superb figures on 6/25.
It was his second hat-trick. But all he kept repeating after his unique feat was: ”I am
happy.”
He was invited to plant a liquid amber tree at the Dusi end of the ground in recognition of his hat-trick and his match haul. Most of the other tree-planters have been batsmen so there was even more reason for Vaas to declare: ”I’m happy”.
So too was Sri Lanka skipper Sanath Jayasuriya who now has two victories out of two in their B Group after having beaten New Zealand in their first ICC World Cup match.
After winning the toss he had no hesitation to ask Bangladesh to bat as there was a bit of moisture around — even though it was another hot and humid Natal day — and winning these World Cup matches is top priority.
But even he, with all his vast experience, could hardly have expected Chaminda Vaas to respond in such dramatic fashion. Bangladesh were out for 124 and Sri Lanka cruised to 126 without loss. – Sapa