Lasith Malinga's doing stuff that makes us happy

Yay. Fast bowling's not dead yet. Sri Lanka have absolutely walloped New Zealand in a one-dayer in Auckland. Lasith Malinga took 3-14. Chaminda Vaas took 3-10, but Malinga's the future. The future, you hear!

This is also good news for England in a seeing-what-you-want-to kind of a way. Sri Lanka absolutely battered England in the one-dayers over the summer. If Sri Lanka are THIS much better than New Zealand, maybe England aren't all that bad...

Benevolent Uncle Sanath got Sri Lanka off to a flyer like it was 1996 all over again, hitting 70 off 44 balls, which is just ludicrous really. He hit five sixes, which is quite a lot when you think about it. Sri Lanka made 262-6.

Then the fun REALLY started as New Zealand were bowled out for just 73 with only two players reaching double figures. We haven't seen a single ball of it, but we imagine Lasith Malinga looked serious and New Zealand's batsmen looked around pleading for help, but no-one answered their calls.

Bizarrely, Lasith Malinga has opted to have his hair cut like mum's was in 1983. Always ahead of her time, mum.

Murali took 2-7. It was a good match all round.

Lasith Malinga's bowling action

Lasith Malinga's bowling action is first-class. He slats it. He whangs it. He slings it. He doesn't chuck it. Better not use the word 'chuck'. No, what Lasith Malinga does is what all of us used to do when we were kids. He just tries to propel the ball as fast as humanly possible. It looks pretty weird, but it's effective. There are pros and cons.

Pros:

Lasith Malinga's action uses every part of his body in generating pace.

The ball is released from an unusually low point, which can catch out batsmen used to more conventional actions.

If he swings the ball in, it will also dip, due to the angle of the seam. Waqar Younis's inswinging yorker did this. Waqar Younis's inswinging yorker was just about the best delivery there's ever been.

If he swings it out, the ball will also rise, pitching fuller than the batsmen anticipates. This is likely to lead to false strokes.

Cons:

Accuracy. If Lasith Malinga releases at the wrong moment, the ball will either go full and down the leg side, or short and on the off-side.

Those of you with modern internet connections or at work can see a video of Lasith Malinga bowling against the West Indies here.

Go on Lasith Malinga. You fire your tennis ball into that piece of wood propped up with a brick. Your bowling action's purer than any in international cricket.


Read our latest stuff about Lasith Malinga
Read our latest stuff about Sri Lanka

Subscribe to King Cricket

Lasith Malinga - cheat?

This is slightly apropos of nothing, but there's always someone moaning about Lasith Malinga's bowling action.

One of his critics' main points is that he breaks the rules and cheats. We don't actually think that Malinga does break the rules, but let's assume for a moment that he does.

What is 'cheating'? It's gaining an unfair advantage somehow, isn't it? Even if Malinga does break the rules, does he get an unfair advantage?

No. He doesn't get any advantage at all through the way he bowls. It's a disadvantage. It's a crippling disadvantage and it's miraculous that he's so effective. He succeeds in spite of his action, not because of it.

Have any of his critics attempted to bowl like him to see the true effects of his 'cheating'? When the first two deliveries get fielded by deep square leg and the third by cover, they'll realise that Malinga's round-arm action isn't cheating.

Video of Malinga taking four wickets in four balls

Well this was some bowling.

If you're not a fan of Lasith Malinga's, why not add some outraged comments to our post about Lasith Malinga's bowling action.

For the record, we think that his arm isn't any lower than Shane Warne's was. Call Malinga a chucker and you call Warne a chucker. It's also a straight arm. Straight as a Roman road.

Lasith Malinga's hat-trick-and-a-bit is in vain

How can one so seemingly puny, propel the ball so fast? With masses of effort it can be done, it seems. Lasith Malinga took four wickets in four balls, but Sri Lanka failed to beat South Africa as the Proteas got home with only one wicket to spare.

We still think that Sri Lanka have got a good chance in this World Cup, but they do have some weaknesses. Their most glaring is that their four best batsmen occupy the first four batting slots. This is true of many sides, but it's more true for Sri Lanka. Take four wickets early on and they're stuffed.

That's essentially what happened against South Africa, although Tillekeratne Dilshan and Russel Arnold pulled it back against South Africa's 'spinners'.

Chasing 210, South Africa were what is always described as 'cruising' at 206-5. 'Cruising' sounds so much better when you put it in inverted commas. What are we saying about the South Africans? We're just saying that they were 'cruising'. The South Africans won't mind us saying that, will they? Why would they? They WERE 'cruising'.

Anyway, it was at this point, with South Africa needing just four to win, that Lasith Malinga decided it was time to take a hat trick and then another wicket, the very next ball, just for good measure. Watch a video of Lasith Malinga's four wickets in four balls here.

South Africa were no longer 'cruising', but unfortunately for Sri Lanka and Sri Lankophiles the world over, they couldn't take that final wicket.