Lahiru Thirimanne

Hettige Don Rumesh Lahiru Thirimanne, known as Lahiru Thirimanne (Sinhala: ළහිරු තිරිමාන්න; born 9 August 1989) is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer, and a former ODI captain. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler, and also acted as the vice-captain of the Sri Lanka One Day International team, when he was dropped from the team after poor performances.[1] He was recalled in 2018 for the national team.[2]

Lahiru Thirimanne
ළහිරු තිරිමාන්න
Personal information
Full nameHettige Don Rumesh Lahiru Thirimanne
Born (1989-08-09) 9 August 1989
Moratuwa, Sri Lanka
NicknameThiri
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium-fast
RoleBatsman
RelationsThulanidu Thirimanne (brother)
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 116)16 June 2011 v Pakistan
Last Test22 August 2019 v New Zealand
ODI debut (cap 143)5 January 2010 v India
Last ODI2 October 2019 v Pakistan
ODI shirt no.66
T20I debut (cap 44)1 June 2012 v Pakistan
Last T20I28 March 2016 v South Africa
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2008–presentRagama
2008–09Basnahira South
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 35 127 116 207
Runs scored 1,404 3,194 7,061 5,566
Batting average 22.64 34.71 40.11 35.67
100s/50s 1/6 4/21 18/34 7/39
Top score 155* 139* 168 139*
Balls bowled 84 104 216 120
Wickets 0 3 0 4
Bowling average – 31.33 – 29.00
5 wickets in innings – 0 – 0
10 wickets in match – 0 – 0
Best bowling – 2/36 – 2/36
Catches/stumpings 20/– 38/– 115/– 67/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 2 October 2019
Lahiru Thirimanne
Medal record
Men's Cricket
Representing  Sri Lanka
Asian Games
2014 IncheonTeam

School career

Thirimanne began his cricketing career at S.Thomas' College, Bandarawela and played Under 11 cricket and his first coach was Sujeewa Gunarathne. He studied at S.Thomas' College Bandarawela initially as his father, who was employed at the Survey Department was transferred. After passing the grade 5 scholarship exam Lahiru joined Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa and played in the Under 13,15,17 and 19 team.

Domestic career

In March 2018, he was named in Colombo's squad for the 2017–18 Super Four Provincial Tournament.[3][4] He was the leading run-scorer for Colombo during the tournament, with 198 runs in three matches.[5]

The following month, he was also named in Colombo's squad for the 2018 Super Provincial One Day Tournament.[6] In August 2018, he was named in Kandy's squad the 2018 SLC T20 League.[7] In March 2019, he was named in Galle's squad for the 2019 Super Provincial One Day Tournament.[8]

International career

Early success

He made his One Day International (ODI) debut in early 2010.[9] He made his Test debut against England at the Rose Bowl in June 2011,[10] coming into the side for the injured Tillakaratne Dilshan.[11] In his first Test innings, he was dismissed for 10 runs caught behind off the bowling of James Anderson.[12]

Thirimanne Scored his first ODI century against Australia at Adelaide Oval during second ODI of 2012–13 Commonwealth Bank Series.[13]

Golden 2014-15

During the 2014 Asia Cup in Bangladesh, he opened the batting with Kusal Perera, due to injury of Tillakaratne Dilshan, who was not included to the series. He scored two magnificent hundreds against Pakistan, where he finally ended up being the highest run scorer in the tournament with 2 centuries with the average of 55.80. Eventually, Sri Lanka became champions for the fifth time in Asia Cup history. Thirimanne was adjudged man of the match of final and also player of the series.

During the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, Thirimanne started to open the batting with Tillakaratne Dilshan. Before the tournament, the Sri Lankan opening pair was struggling to pick up, but finally, it was sealed between Thirimanne and Dilshan. On 1 March 2015, he scored his 4th ODI century against England, where Sri Lanka successfully chased 309 runs. He added 212* runs for the second wicket partnership with Kumar Sangakkara to win the match. This remains the highest 2nd wicket partnership for Sri Lanka in ODI cricket(212*)[14] He was unbeaten 139 in the match.[15]

Comeback

Thirimanne did not included in any of the international squad since January 2016 due to very poor performances in both domestic and international arena. In July 2017, he was included to the practice match against India and scored 56 runs. However, the score did not effect for the inclusion to test series. With many injury concerns within the named squad for Sri Lanka, Thirimanne was recalled into the second Test at SSC, although he did not feature in the first XI.[16]

Thirimanne was also not initially selected for the limited over series against India, but after the injury to Danushka Gunathilaka, and suspension to Upul Tharanga, Thirimanne along with Dinesh Chandimal were brought into the ODI side.[17] He played in the third ODI and scored 80 runs, which was the highest scored for Sri Lanka in the match. However, Sri Lanka lost the match and also lost the eighth consecutive ODI series to India.[18]

In May 2018, he was one of 33 cricketers to be awarded a national contract by Sri Lanka Cricket ahead of the 2018–19 season.[19][20]

In April 2019, he was named in Sri Lanka's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.[21][22] On 4 June 2019, in Sri Lanka's match against Afghanistan, Thirimanne scored his 3,000th run in ODI cricket.[23]

In the first Test match against New Zealand in August 2019, Thirimanne scored a match winning half century in the fourth innings to chase down a target of 267.[24] This is the first time a team has successfully chased down a fourth-innings target of more than 100 in Galle Stadium as well. New Zealand posted 267 runs in their second innings to win the match, where Thirimanne along with skipper Dimuth Karunaratne gave a strong opening partnership of 161 runs.[25] This stand ranks as only the second instance where fourth innings of a Test match in Asia scored more than 150 run opening partnership.[26][27]

Captaincy

Thirimanne captainced the cricket team for 2014 Asian Games at Incheon, where Sri Lanka won the gold medl by defeating Afghanistan in the final.

On 23 January 2015, during the fifth ODI against New Zealand, he captained the Sri Lanka, due to slight injury of captain Angelo Mathews. However, his first match as a captain did not underway well, as they lost the match by 108 runs. He also took 2 wickets at that match, and scored 45 runs as an opener.[28] He also captained the 6th and 7th ODIs of the series, where 6th ODI ended with a huge defeat, and 7th ODI was comfortably won under his captaincy. However, Sri Lanka lost the series to 4–2 finally.

In 2019, ten Sri Lanka players including permanent ODI and T20I captain withdrew the tour of Pakistan citing security concerns. Therefore, Thirimanne was announced as the ODI captain for the 3-match series.[29] During the series, first ODI was abandoned due to heavy rain. Sri Lanka lost the next two games and lost the ODI series 2-0.[30]

References
  1. "Lahiru Thirimanne's Wedding – Gossip Lanka News". Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  2. "Hope to give confidence to Thirimanne, Samarawickrama - SLC selector". Cricinfo. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  3. "Cricket: Mixed opinions on Provincial tournament". Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 26 March 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  4. "All you need to know about the SL Super Provincial Tournament". Daily Sports. 26 March 2018. Archived from the original on 27 March 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  5. "Sri Lanka Super Four Provincial Tournament, 2017/18, Colombo: Batting and bowling averages". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  6. "SLC Super Provincial 50 over tournament squads and fixtures". The Papare. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  7. "SLC T20 League 2018 squads finalized". The Papare. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  8. "Squads, Fixtures announced for SLC Provincial 50 Overs Tournament". The Papare. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  9. "Lahiru Thirimanne to debut today against India". ColomboPage. 5 January 2010. Archived from the original on 9 January 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  10. Sheringham, Sam (16 June 2011). "England put Sri Lanka under pressure at the Rose Bowl". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  11. McGlashan, Andrew (15 June 2011). "Hosts aim to expose Sri Lanka's problems". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  12. "Anderson removes Thirimanne before lunch". The Hindu. Rose Bowl, Southampton: AP. 16 June 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  13. "Thirimanne guides Sri Lanka to resounding win". Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  14. "Cricket Records | Records | Sri Lanka | One-Day Internationals | Highest partnerships by wicket | ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  15. "22nd Match, Pool A: England v Sri Lanka at Wellington, Mar 1, 2015 – Cricket Scorecard – ESPN Cricinfo". Archived from the original on 2 March 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  16. "Lahiru Thirimanne returns for SSC Test". Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  17. "SL bring Chandimal, Thirimanne in place of Gunathilaka, Tharanga". ESPNcricinfo. 25 August 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  18. "Bumrah five-for, Rohit ton secure series win for India". ESPNcricinfo. 27 August 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  19. "Sri Lanka assign 33 national contracts with pay hike". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  20. "Sri Lankan players to receive pay hike". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  21. "Thirimanne, Siriwardana, Vandersay picked in World Cup squad". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  22. "Jeevan Mendis, Siriwardana, Vandersay make comebacks in Sri Lanka World Cup squad". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  23. "Lahiru Thirimanne achieves special feat during Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka World Cup fixture". DNA India news. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  24. "Dimuth Karunaratne, the cool captain for Sri Lanka's high seas". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  25. "Dimuth Karunaratne hits 122 as Sri Lanka wrap up record chase in Galle". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  26. "Dimuth Karunaratne joins select group with fourth-innings hundred". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  27. "I had to do it - Dimuth Karunaratne on a special century". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  28. "5th ODI: New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Dunedin, Jan 23, 2015 – Cricket Scorecard – ESPN Cricinfo". Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  29. "Thirimanne, Shanaka to lead Sri Lanka in Pakistan". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  30. "Abid Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail star as Pakistan seal series". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
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