Picture Credit: Cricket Australia
Ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction, the T20I series between Australia and Sri Lanka kicked off on Friday, giving the players of both sides a final chance to make an impression. While Ben McDermott did his reputation no harm by smashing a brilliant half-century, Aaron Finch failed in the audition as his disappointing patch of form continued.
However, there was one player at SCG who showed once again that he means business - Sri Lanka's Wanindu Hasaranga. Following his scintillating performances in T20 World Cup 2021, the leg-spinner continued from where he left as he took 3 big wickets - Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell and Steve Smith.
While every dismissal was special in itself, it was actually the dismissal of Steve Smith which was indeed quite astonishing. As the Aussie batsman tried to use his feet and attack the spinner, Hasaranga produced a delivery, which was probable one-of-a-kind. It was a googly yorker that absolutely deceived the right-handed batsman with the ball crashing onto the stumps.
Watch the video here:
The close-up replays confirmed that Smith was left completely bamboozled by this magical delivery from Hasaranga. The reaction from the leg-spinner indeed reflected that he was also left amazed by what he had done against such a classy batsman.
Notably, Hasaranga (who played for RCB in IPL 2021) will be up for grabs for all the franchises in the mega auction, with his base price set at INR 1 crore.
Meanwhile, in the match between Australia and Sri Lanka, the Aussie posted a total of 149/9 in 20 overs, setting up for exciting second innings in series opener Sydney.