As Sri Lankan all-rounder Angelo Mathews celebrates his birthday today, we take a look back at some of his finest performances that have time and again proved his importance to the Sri Lankan cricket team. With both bat and ball, Mathews has been a match-winner for Sri Lanka on numerous occasions.
One of his best all-round displays came during Sri Lanka’s tour of England in 2014. In a Test match, Mathews first grabbed attention with the ball, picking up the key wickets of 4 English batsmen for just 44 runs. This helped restrict the hosts to a gettable total. Then, with the bat, Mathews played a captain’s knock, scoring an invaluable 160 to help Sri Lanka post a big total and take control of the match.
Another memorable performance came against India in 2014. Chasing a big target in an ODI, Mathews came in at a tricky position but went on to play a sublime innings of 139 runs, his maiden ODI century. He almost single-handedly took Sri Lanka close to winning. He wasn’t done yet, also picking up two wickets with his medium pace.
One of Mathews’ best bowling spells came in 2009 against India, where he decimated the Indian batting line-up, returning figures of 6/20. His six-wicket haul helped bowl out India for a paltry total as Sri Lanka went on to win comfortably.
In 2020 during Sri Lanka’s tour of Zimbabwe, Mathews registered his highest Test score, a mammoth unbeaten 200, helping Sri Lanka amass a huge total. Zimbabwe fell well short of the target, losing by 10 wickets.
Lastly, his 4/59 against West Indies, including defending 13 runs in the final over, showed Mathews’ ice-cool temperament under extreme pressure. It helped Sri Lanka complete a 3-0 series whitewash.
These have been some of Angelo Mathews’ finest performances that highlight why he is such an invaluable asset for Sri Lanka in international cricket.
