On 29th March 2007, Srilanka faced South Africa in Guyana, West Indies in the World Cup. In this second game of the super 8 stage, Srilankan captain Mahela Jayawardena won the toss and elected to bat first. Srilanka got all out for a mere 209 runs as pacer Charl Langeveldt picked up 5 wickets.
Proteas Openers Graeme Smith and AB De Villiers walked out with only 210 runs to chase. Veteran Chaminda Vaas got rid of De Villiers on a duck. Jacques Kallis built a solid partnership with smith. Sangakkara stumped Smith off Muralitharan's bowling to break the partnership. Herschelle Gibbs and Kallis steadily batted out 10 overs before Muralitharan again came in clutch and picked up 2 wickets in 2 balls. Shortly after Sanath Jayasuriya got rid of Justin Kemp leaving South Africa 5 down with still 28 runs to go. Shaun Pollock walked in to bat with Kallis set on the other end.
Lasith Malinga in to ball the 45th over with South Africa needing only 10 runs to get. Pollock got 10 runs in the first 4 balls. On the last 2 deliveries, Malinga got Pollock and Andrew Hall. Chaminda Vaas Bowled a tight next over conceding only 1 run. Malinga who was on a hattrick came to ball the following over with the Proteas requiring 3 runs With 3 wickets in hand, Kallis who was batting on 86 got caught behind. Malinga got a hat-trick giving Srilanka a real chance to pull off a miracle. On the very next ball, Malinga bowled a trademark yorker to Dismantle Ntini's stumps. Malinga and Chaminda Vaas kept it tight but the Proteas ended up winning the match by 1 wicket with 10 balls left.
In the post-match press conference, Malinga said "I am feeling bad that we lost the game but I am happy that I took a hattrick. The old ball was going to reverse and I got the wickets. I tried to get five in a row but unfortunately didn't get it. ... We are a fighting team but I think we didn't have enough runs."
Lasith Malinga became the first bowler to pick 4 wickets in as many deliveries in International cricket. Rashid Khan later achieved the feat in a T20I game in 2019 before. In a T20I game against New Zealand in 2019 Malinga again picked up 4 wickets in 4 balls.
Also Read | Chaminda Vaas has became the only bowler in World Cup ODI history to picked up four wickets in one over
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