Malinga bittersweet about feat

Despite becoming the first man in World Cup history to take four wickets in four balls, Lasith Malinga, lamented his sides one wicket loss to South Africa yesterday.

“I am happy to take those wickets but we have lost,” he said.

“I felt good, mixed my deliveries up well, and I thought we might pinch it. But 209 was not enough to defend.”

Malinga today revealed he was unaware of the record till after the game.

“I didn’t know if anyone else had taken four,” he said.

“I know now I was the first person and I’m very happy. But my team lost the game.”

His captain, Mahela Jayawardene also praised the fast bowler saying he would be a big threat to opposition batsmen in the matches to come.

“He can be a big force,” Jayawardene said.

“He can be a handful for the lower and middle order and the tail-enders and he has been for quite some time.

“I can use him any time. I can use him in one-over spells, two-over spells, he’s always good to go. He’s something special that we have in this team and hopefully we can use that to our benefit in the future.

“It’s not easy to force the pace off him as well and if the opposition is batting with the lower or middle order he is quite a handful.”

Sri Lanka now take on the home side, West Indies, for their next Super 8 clash on April 1st in Guyana.