Stats - Lasith Malinga, a colossus of ODI cricket

Malinga's ODI career in different phases
July 25, 2019

Lasith Malinga will be playing his last ODI on Friday, against Bangladesh at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Here are some statistical highlights of Malinga's career that spanned over 15 years and four World Cups.

335 - Wickets Malinga took in ODIs. He is the tenth-highest wicket-taker in the format. Among Sri Lanka bowlers, only Muttiah Muralitharan (534) and Chaminda Vaas (400) have more ODI wickets.

56 - Wickets taken by Malinga in World Cup matches, the third-most among all bowlers. Only Glenn McGrath (71) and Muttiah Muralitharan (68) have more wickets in World Cup history. Malinga played in four World Cup tournaments (2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019) and took 12 or more wickets in each of them. No other bowler has taken ten-plus wickets in more than three World Cup editions.

3 - Number of hat-tricks taken by Malinga in ODIs, the most among all bowlers. He picked up hat-tricks against South Africa in the 2007 World Cup, against Kenya in the 2011 World Cup and against Australia in 2011. He is also the only bowler to take four wickets in four balls in ODI cricket, a feat he achieved against South Africa, en route to his first hat-trick.

163 - Wickets taken by Malinga in the four-year period between 2011 and 2014, which was the best phase of his ODI career. No bowler took more wickets in ODI cricket during that period. After a great start to his career - he picked up 67 wickets in 45 ODIs from his debut till 2007 - Malinga had a relatively lean time from 2008 till 2010, fetching 41 wickets in 30 games. From 2015 onwards, he was in and out of the team several times and did not play a single ODI in 2016.

24.7 - Malinga's bowling strike rate in wins - the best among all bowlers who have 150 or more wickets in wins. He has taken 212 wickets in wins and 112 in defeats (strike rate 47.0). He averages 20.23 in wins and 45.89 in losses.

29 - Wickets for Malinga in Asia Cup (14 matches) - the second-most among all bowlers. Only Muralitharan has more, 30 in 24 games. He played a crucial role in Sri Lanka's 2014 Asia Cup victory, taking 5 for 56 in the final.

8 - Five-wicket hauls for Malinga in ODIs - the fifth-most among all bowlers. Three of those five-fors came against Pakistan.

Lasith Malinga in each ODI World Cup
Edition Mats Wkts Ave SR
 2007  8  18  15.77  19.4
 2011  7  13  20.76  22.4
 2015  7  12  29.50  31.8
 2019  7  13  28.69  28.4

6 - Number of times Malinga dismissed Shane Watson - the most he got a batsman out in his ODI career. Shahid Afridi, Martin Guptill and Mohammad Hafeez are the next on the list with five dismissals each. Incidentally, Hafeez and Virender Sehwag are the only batsmen to be dismissed for ducks by Malinga twice.

56 - Malinga's highest score as a batsman in ODIs, which came against Australia at the MCG in 2010. It is his only half-century of in ODIs. He shared a 132-run stand with Angelo Mathews for the ninth wicket, which is the highest partnership for the ninth wicket or lower in ODI history. Chasing 240, Sri Lanka were 107 for 8 when Malinga and Mathews joined hands to clinch a one-wicket victory.

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