SA vs SL: It’s Not Just a Ball, It’s a Missile! Sri Lankan Bowler Breaks the Bat with His Delivery
SA vs SL: The Game of Bat and Ball in Cricket In cricket, it’s always the ball that travels after hitting the bat. The speed of a fast bowler is also reflected in how fast the ball moves. Recently, in the ongoing match between India and Australia, Siraj bowled a delivery at an impressive speed of 180 km/h, which has been widely discussed. Meanwhile, in the second Test match between Sri Lanka and South Africa, something unusual happened—the ball broke a bat! A delivery from Lahiru Kumara caused Kagiso Rabada’s bat to split from its handle. This second Test match is part of a two-match series and is being held at St. George Oval in Gqeberha. South Africa won the toss and chose to bat first. Lahiru Kumara bowled the 90th over of the innings for Sri Lanka. On his fourth ball, Rabada, who was batting at the striker’s end, tried to stop the ball. However, he misjudged it and lightly moved his bat forward, attempting to play with just one hand. Lahiru’s delivery struck a sensitive area of the bat, causing it to break away from the handle.
You can see Lahiru’s impressive delivery in the video. After Lahiru’s ball broke the bat, there was quite a bit of back-and-forth between the two players. Rabada hit a powerful four off Kumara’s fifth ball, and in response, Lahiru bowled a fast bouncer on the last ball, which made Rabada lower his head in respect. In this second Test match, South Africa batted first and scored 358 runs before losing all their wickets. Ryan Rickleton scored 101 runs for the team, while Kyle Verreyne remained unbeaten with 105 runs. Captain Temba Bavuma also contributed 78 runs. Lahiru Kumara was the standout bowler for Sri Lanka, taking 4 wickets, while Asitha Fernando claimed 3 and Vishwa Fernando took 2 wickets. Sri Lanka also showed strong batting performance. By the end of the second day’s play, they had scored 242 runs for the loss of 3 wickets. Notably, Sri Lanka’s experienced batsman Angelo Matthews reached a milestone of 8000 runs in Test cricket with his innings of 42 runs.
