The Indian Premier League 2024 is not far away, as the tournament’s opener is set to take place on March 22. Fans will witness a clash between the Chennai Super Kings and the Royal Challengers Bangalore at Chepauk Stadium in the first game. The Mumbai Indians, who have not done well in the last two seasons, will look to bounce back well in 2024. For that, the franchise has made some big changes.
Hardik Pandya has been traded in and has replaced Rohit Sharma as the captain. A number of exciting players have also joined the team after the IPL 2024 auction. MI has worked mainly on their bowling department and bought some good fast bowlers. One of them is a slingy pacer from Sri Lanka, Nuwan Thushara, who has a bowling action similar to Lasith Malinga.
Watch: Nuwan Thushara becomes the fifth Sri Lankan to take a hat-trick in T20 internationals
Sri Lanka recently beat Bangladesh in the third T20 by 28 runs in Sylhet. The star of the game was Nuwan Thushara, who picked up a hat-trick in his very first over to rattle Bangladesh’s batting order. He bowled at the stumps with pace, and the top-order batters didn’t have an answer against him. He came out to bowl the 4th over of the innings and took three wickets in his first four balls.
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He castled Bangladesh’s skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto (1) on the second ball of his spell. It was followed by another pacy yorker to dismiss Towhid Hridoy for a golden duck. For his hat-trick, he dismissed Mahmudullah and completed the landmark. With this, he became only the fifth Sri Lankan to do this in the shorter format of the game.
Before him, Thisara Perera, Lasith Malinga (twice), Akila Dananjaya, and Wanindu Hasaranga had achieved this feat. The pacer ended up with a figure of 5/20 and won the Man of the Match award. Earlier in the game, Sri Lanka made 174/7 in the first inning. Kusal Mendis smashed a 55-ball 86 runs. In reply, Bangladesh got all out for 146 runs. This win helped Sri Lanka win the series as well. They have beaten Bangladesh by 2-1, and now both teams will play a three-match ODI series starting on Tuesday.
