Malinga Bandara

Malinga Bandara

Personal information
Full name	Herath Mudiyanselage Charitha Malinga Bandara
Born	31 December 1979 (1979-12-31) (age 31) Kalutara, Sri Lanka
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right arm leg break
International information
National side	Sri Lanka
Test debut (cap 71)	27 May 1998 v New Zealand
Last Test	3 April 2006 v Pakistan
ODI debut (cap 127)	6 January 2006 v New Zealand
Last ODI	1 April 2011 v India
ODI shirt no.	72
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2008–present	Basnahira South
2006–present	Ragama
2010	Kent
2005	Gloucestershire
2004–2005	Galle
2003–2004	Tamil Union
1998–2003	Nondescripts
1996–1997	Kalutara
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	8	31	151	137
Runs scored	124	160	3,430	1,126
Batting average	15.50	12.30	20.17	17.59
100s/50s	0/0	0/0	1/14	0/3
Top score	43	31	108	64
Balls bowled	1,152	1,470	20,994	5,846
Wickets	16	36	431	189
Bowling average	39.56	34.22	25.38	24.31
5 wickets in innings	0	0	14	4
10 wickets in match	0	n/a	2	n/a
Best bowling	3/84	4/31	8/49	5/22
Catches/stumpings	4/–	9/–	95/–	39/–
Source: CricketArchive, 8 February 2011

Herath Mudiyanselage Charitha Malinga Bandara (born 31 December 1979), commonly known as Malinga Bandara, is a Sri Lankan Test and one-day international cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and also bowls legbreaks. Malinga Bandara was earmarked from an early age as a legspinner of great potential. On the basis of his school performances he was selected for the Under-19 tour to India in 1997, the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa, and the Sri Lanka A tour to England in 1999. In between, he made his Test debut against New Zealand in 1998–99 but looked all at sea in a disappointing display and did not come into consideration after that. A match haul of 11 for 126 against England A in March 2005 confirmed his growing potential and also helped attract the attention of Gloucestershire as they looked for a replacement for Upul Chandana. Bandara, like Chandana, is also a useful lower order batsman. He has not been able to nail a permanent place in the one-day set-up but has provided valuable support for Muttiah Muralitharan. It is his all-round versatility which won him a World Cup place for the Caribbean ahead of Chandana. He played just one game and has since struggled to find a place in the line-up. He was, however, named in the probables for the Champions Trophy. Bandara made his Test debut against New Zealand in 1998 but performed poorly and was subsequently dropped. A useful performance against England 'A' in March 2005 (securing match-figures of eleven for 126) resulted in a Test recall in December. He finished the three-Test series against India with nine wickets at an average of 32.88. Bandara made his ODI debut against New Zealand in January 2006 at Wellington and was highly successful in the tournament, taking fourteen wickets at an average of 23.92, a strike rate of 29.2, and an economy rate of 4.90, bettering his more famous spin twin Muttiah Muralitharan. He took his best bowling figures of four for 31 against South Africa in the final VB Series round robin match at the Bellerive Oval, Hobart, on 7 February 2006. This performance ensured Sri Lanka's place in the finals against Australia.

He was subsequently ignored for Pakistan's tour of Sri Lanka in 2005/2006 and missed out on the test series in England in 2006. In Sri Lankan domestic cricket, Bandara represents Galle Cricket Club. Having spent the previous two summers at Normandy CC of the Surrey Championship, turning out in 55 Games for the club, he also played county cricket for English county Gloucestershire during the 2005 season, he was so successful with both bat and ball that he was named "Gloucestershire Player of the Season".

External links

• Normandy CC player Profile and stats
• Cricinfo Profile

Persondata
Name	Bandara, Malinga
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	31 December 1979
Place of birth	Kalutara
Date of death
Place of death