Chennai Super Kings (CSK) star pacer Matheesha Pathirana rattled the stumps of Mumbai Indians (MI) power batsman Romario Shepherd on Sunday, April 14, in the 29th match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.
Shepherd, 29, is considered an extremely dangerous batsman while batting in the lower order and showed his true power in the match against Delhi Capitals (DC) by smashing 39 runs off 10 balls, with 3 fours and 4 sixes.
Of the 39 runs he scored, Romario Shepherd scored 32 runs in the 20th over of the first innings. He smoked Anrich Nortje all over the park and left his teammates in awe of his batting brilliance.
With his batting prowess against Delhi Capitals, expectations were sky-high for the all-rounder when he batted in the match against Chennai Super Kings and many expected him to replicate his heroics. However, Romario Shepherd was very disappointing with the bat as he only scored 1 run before being deceived by the dangerous Matheesha Pathirana.
On the third ball of the 18th over, the pacer bowled a lethal full-length delivery over stumps. The Mumbai Indians (MI) all-rounder was outpaced and also played on the wrong line, resulting in the ball breaking his stumps. MS Dhoni seemed very impressed with the youngster’s bowling and applauded the pacer behind the stumps.
When we were bowling in the powerplay, I was quite nervous – Matheesha Pathirana
Matheesha Pathirana ended her stint in the match against Mumbai Indians with figures of 4/28 and was also awarded Player of the Match for her bowling brilliance.
At the post-match presentation ceremony, Matheesha Pathirana said that he was very nervous while bowling in the powerplay and was advised to stay calm and recover as much as possible.
“When we were bowling in the powerplay, I was quite nervous. They told me to stay calm and do my thing, that gave me confidence today.”
Matheesha Pathirana further said that all her focus remains on the execution part and she hardly worries about the results. Matheesha Pathirana said:
“I don’t think much about the results, I just worry about my execution. If I execute, I will get my rewards. Sometimes I have to change my plans depending on the hitters.”
Matheesha Pathirana added that he had a problem but the CSK support staff helped him a lot during that period. He said:
“I struggled with a small issue two weeks ago but all the support staff supported me and that has been the main reason for my form.”
Talking about the match, batting first, Chennai Super Kings posted 206/4 on the board thanks to half-centuries from Shivam Dube and Ruturaj Gaikwad as well as a classic finish from MS Dhoni. Chasing the target, Rohit Sharma batted well but after the dismissal of Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma, no batsman provided the much-needed support to Rohit and in the end, Mumbai Indians were restricted to 186/6, facing a defeat of 20 races.
