Sri Lanka and South Africa clashed in one of the most nail biting T20 games ever seen, which the former won by 5 wickets and also clinched the series by 2-1. South Africa came to bat first and set a target of 170 runs against Sri Lanka.
An unexpected and hands down hilarious incident took place in the final over when Sri Lanka needed 11 runs in 6 balls. Gunaratne and Prasanna were present at the crease, who gave every reason of concern to South African bowlers as both were hitting some God like shots irrespective of the bowlers or deliveries. Runs were being scored all over the ground, making it an intensed run chase.
The first delivery of the final over was sent over the boundary and 5 more runs were needed after the first three deliveries. The pressure and adrenaline rush took the better of Gunaratne when a bouncer edged on top of his bat and went through the boundary behind the wicketkeeper.
The Srilankan batsman lost all his senses and started celebrating his team’s victory by uprooting the stumps and running around glorifying the Triumph.
However, if you have done the math, 1 more run was lacking for the Srilankan side, in order to formally win the match.
Commentators were heard saying “He’s gone off… not yet buddy, not yet” and “You’ve still got to finish the job, one more to get”.
The cameraman also did a great job by recording the expressions of fans in shock and even Gunaratne has a red face after he realised his immature mistake.
See Gunaratne’s ridiculous immature celebration here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm8mXuHkVhQ
(Video Courtesy: Curious Buzz)
Soon, his celebrations were cut short and the match was resumed. Sri Lanka won the match in the end but we saw an embarrassed and calm Gunaratne while his team was celebrating the victory.
The incident reminds us of Mushfiqur Rahim’s whose early celebration against India in 2016 T20I World Cup with two runs still required off three deliveries. Unfortunately, Bangladesh lost the three wickets off the remaining three balls and handed over an unbelievable one-run win to India.
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27 January 2017
Rohan Jaitly