A ripper runs through it

Multiple versions of it were on view during the home teams opening World Cup fixtures with young and old sporting wigs of different sizes and colour in Hambantota and Colombo.

HE has been smiling down from every second hoarding in the country for more than a month. His blond-bleached nest hairstyle,a rave among Sri Lankan cricket fans for a number of years,has now become an obsession with them. Multiple versions of it were on view during the home teams opening World Cup fixtures with young and old sporting wigs of different sizes and colour in Hambantota and Colombo. But ten days into the most-awaited event in the country,the original Lasith Malinga and his toe-crushers had yet to surface.

Nursing a back strain,the 27-year-old poster-boy of Sri Lankan cricket and there have been none like him had been confined to the dressing-room,to the despair of his adoring fans and to the relief of the Canadians and the Pakistanis.

By the time Malinga stood at the start of his run-up preparing to bowl the second delivery of his seventh over on Tuesday,he had already given the packed crowd at the R Premadasa Stadium a lot to cheer about initially by just being part of Sri Lankas eleven against Kenya. Having dismissed Tanmay Mishra and Peter Ongondo with his previous two deliveries,however,Malinga stood at the cusp of history.

And when he began his run,after giving the ball that customary peck,it wasnt as if Kenyan tail-ender Shem Ngoche was unaware of the low-bending missile that was about to be flung towards the base of his stumps. And he had two feet and a bat to interrupt the balls path of destruction. Unfortunately for Ngoche,all three obstacles probably for their own safety hastily moved out of the way,leaving his stumps in disarray and handing Malinga his second World Cup hat-trick.

Like Ngoche,Mishra and Ongondo too had fallen prey to the same,predictable weapon. They too had stayed in their crease,expecting one of Malingas in-swinging toe-crushers. But while Mishra at least managed to get one of his pads in the way,Ongondos defences were shattered.

In fact,Malinga almost managed to repeat his famous feat from four years ago when he nearly orchestrated the South Africans worst choke ever with four wickets in as many deliveries. But while Elijah Otieno denied him that honour,the No. 11s resistance was blown away with another yorker,as Malinga finished with his best ODI figures of 6/38. All six of his victims were left gaping in horror,consumed by his deadly yorkers.

While recurring injuries have limited Malingas ODI career to just 78 matches in over seven years just like they kept him out of the Lankans first two World Cup matches his weapon of choice has never been kept under wraps. Few batsmen,however,have managed to find a shield against it for a prolonged length of time. The already bruised and battered Kenyans never stood a chance.

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I have never worried about the duration of my playing days with Sri Lanka. I have picked up a lot of tips by watching videos of Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram, he said after his match-winning spell.

And as he stood there with his arms raised in jubilation and with thousands of partisan spectators tearing their lungs out it was a familiar smile that Malinga flashed in the centre.