Angelo Mathews hadn't bowled in the nets for eight months. He hadn't bowled in a one-day cricket international since December 2017. But when Sri Lanka needed a cool head as Nicholas Pooran went on the attack for West Indies, he asked for the ball.
The result: A wicket with his first delivery. And it was Pooran, the century-maker, chasing a wider ball and getting caught behind. Effectively, it was game over.
"I mean, we knew that we had to make up two overs, we couldn't just bowl the spinners toward the end when Pooran was batting beautifully," Mathew said, "so I said to the captain, 'Look, I have a bit of experience, so I'll just try bowling the two overs.'"
He was delighted to pick up the wicket.
"Pooran was the man that we needed to get and, you know, quite fortunate to get him in the first ball before he clobbered me for a few sixes," Mathews said. "It was fortunate for us, you know, to get him at the right time."
Mathews has played 210 ODIs and despite starting off in 2008 as an all-rounder, he has been forced to focus on batting because of injuries. He bowled only in eight ODIs in 2017, and only got three wickets. On Monday, he finished with 1-6 in two overs. Job done. He doesn't expect to bowl again at the World Cup.
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