[Watch] Maheesh Theekshana Bowls The Most Unplayable Ball Of The World Cup

Sri Lanka mystery off-spinner Maheesh Theekshana produced a jaffa of a delivery to dismiss the Netherlands captain Scott Edwards which many are claiming is the best ball by a spinner in the World Cup 2023 so far.

Sri Lanka and the Netherlands met on Saturday in a day game at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow.

The Dutch captain Scott Edwards was the Man of the Match in his team’s historic upset over South Africa a few days ago in Dharamsala. So to get him cheaply for a score of only 16 runs was a big achievement for Maheesh Theekshana.

Using whatever assistance there was for spinners in the Lucknow pitch, Maheesh Theekshana bowled Edwards through his gate, leaving the batter astounded; it was a staggering delivery from the off-spinner.

Maheesh Theekshana floated the ball much outside off-stump, pitching in on a good length. Naturally, Edwards moved forward to play a front-foot shot through the off-side. But the ball spun in so significantly, covering about half of the pitch with its spin after pitching, it went through the huge pad-bat gap of Edwards and hit the top of the off and middle stumps. Theekshana ran into his trademark bow and arrow celebration before being joined by his teammates.

Watch: Maheesh Theekshana bowls a jaffa to dismiss Scott Edwards

This is virtually a must-win game for Sri Lanka as they have lost their first three matches, and a loss today will all but knock them out of the semi-final race. Netherlands won the toss and opted to bat first. They have put up a good total of 262 runs, which can be considered par or decent given the Lucknow pitch has help for both spinners and pacers.

Sybrand Engelbrecht top-scored for them with 70 runs and Logan van Beek scored 59 runs. For Sri Lanka, left-arm pacer Dilshan Madushanka and right-arm seamer Kasun Rajitha both picked 4 wickets each.

Teams

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis(w/c), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dushan Hemantha, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka

Netherlands: Vikramjit Singh, Max ODowd, Colin Ackermann, Bas de Leede, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Teja Nidamanuru, Scott Edwards(w/c), Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, Aryan Dutt, Paul van Meekeren