NEWS
Follow UsWilliam O'Rourke did a lot of damage in the first session of the first Test between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Galle on September 18 (Wednesday). He picked up the wickets of the openers Dimuth Karunaratne (2) and Pathum Nissanka (27) to reduce the hosts to 33/2 in the first six overs of the match. He first had Karunaratne caught behind and then cleaned up Nissanka, who was scoring at better than run-a-ball.
However, that was not the fast bowler's final act of the session as he rapped veteran batter Angelo Mathews on his fingers, due to which the Sri Lankan retired hurt. In the 22nd over of the innings, a good-length delivery from O'Rourke jagged back sharply and hit Mathews on his fingers. The extra bounce took the batter by surprise.
The physios immediately rushed to the ground and discovered that Mathews had hurt his index finger. The batter soldiered on for some time, but he was visibly in pain, and as a result, for the second time in a few minutes, the physio was summoned to the ground with the magic spray.
However, after another over passed, Mathews could not take it anymore and walked off the field. He played a watchful knock, scoring 12 off 55 during his stay at the crease. Kamindu Mendis walked in to replace him. Incidentally, the only other instance when Mathews retired hurt was also against New Zealand in Christchurch in 2018.
That was not the last time that the extra bounce troubled a Sri Lankan batter, though. Just before Mathews headed back to the shed, Dinesh Chandimal, too, was troubled by the extra bounce from an O'Rourke delivery that hit his gloves. However, he was able to play out the remaining four overs for the first session.
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