Congenige Randhi Dilhara Fernando (; born 19 July 1979) is a former professional

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

n international

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er. He played as a right-handed pace bowler and was a key member of the Sri Lankan teams which finished as runners-up in the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and

2011 Cricket World Cup The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup was the tenth Cricket World Cup. It was played in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, while the latter hosted World Cup matches for the first time. India won the tournament, defeating Sri Lanka by six wickets in the 2 ...

s. Fernando is best known for his rare technique when bowling the slower ball by splitting the fingers on the ball as it is released.

Domestic career

He made his

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

debut on 17 August 2004, for

Sinhalese Sports Club The Sinhalese people, Singhalese Sports Club (SSC) was a first-class cricket club in Colombo, Sri Lanka till 2025 when they were relegated after enduring a horrendous 2024-25 version of the Major Club 3 day tournament in which they could only m ...

in the

2004 SLC Twenty20 Tournament The 2004 SLC Twenty20 Tournament is the 1st season of the official Twenty20 domestic cricket competition in Sri Lanka. 15 teams in total, five representing four provinces of Sri Lanka Provinces (; ) are the first level administrative divis ...

. In 2008 he appeared briefly in English

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, playing one

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and two

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matches at the end of the season for

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International career

Fernando debuted for Sri Lanka in a Test Match against Pakistan at Colombo in June 2000. Six months later in a game at Durban he clocked 91.9 mph. He bowled at 93.40 mph vs Bangladesh at India. His international career however has been limited due to injury. In the period of a year he suffered two stress fracture of the back and as a result missed their home series against Australia in 2004. In the 2010 tour of Australia, in the 3rd and final ODI at

the Gabba The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Gab ...

, he clocked speeds reaching . On 13 October 2007, in the 5th game of an ODI series with England, at

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, Fernando took career-best bowling figures of 6 for 27, as

thrashed England by 107 runs. This was the first time Fernando had taken more than 4 wickets in an ODI innings, and his feat placed him 5th in the list of best ODI bowling by a Sri Lankan. During

2007 Cricket World Cup The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth Cricket World Cup, a One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007. There were a total of 51 matches played, three fewer than at the 2 ...

against England, he guided the team into winning margin by just 2 runs. England required just 2 runs in the last ball of the match, where

Ravi Bopara Ravinder Singh Bopara (born 4 May 1985) is an English cricketer who plays for Northamptonshire and has represented the England national team. Originally a top-order batsman, his developing medium pace bowling has made him a batting all rou ...

in batting. Fernando delivers a good ball and Bopara was bowled by 2 runs short. Fernando completed the series with 158 career ODI wickets. As of 17 June 2011, only

Chaminda Vaas Deshabandu Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas (born 27 January 1974) is a former Sri Lankan international cricketer who represented the Sri Lanka national cricket team. He is a fast medium pace bowler and regarded as one ...

Sanath Jayasuriya Deshabandu Sanath Teran Jayasuriya (, ; born 30 June 1969), is a former Sri Lankan cricketer, captain, cricket administrator and coach. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest all rounders ever to play in ODI cricket. A left arm orthodox sp ...

and

Muttiah Muralitharan Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan (born 1972) is a Sri Lankan cricket coach, businessman and former professional cricketer. Averaging over six wickets per Test match, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the ...

have taken more ODI wickets for Sri Lanka (and all three have taken over 300 ODI wickets). After three years, Fernando was recalled for the T20I series against India. He played his first international games after 4 years, on 14 February 2016 against India. Due to few runs posted by Sri Lanka, he was not able to get wickets and Sri Lanka lost the match by 9 wickets as well.

Personal life

Dilhara was educated at De Mazenod College in Kandana, a suburb of

. He started his school career as a basketball player but was recruited to play cricket because of his build and height. Dilhara is a Christian.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernando, Dilhara 1979 births Living people Sri Lanka Test cricketers Sri Lankan Roman Catholics Sri Lanka One Day International cricketers Sri Lanka Twenty20 International cricketers 21st-century Sri Lankan sportsmen Sri Lankan cricketers ACC Asian XI One Day International cricketers Sinhalese Sports Club cricketers Mumbai Indians cricketers Sri Lankan expatriate cricketers in India Worcestershire cricketers Sri Lankan expatriate cricketers in England Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2011 Cricket World Cup Uva cricketers Kandurata cricketers Alumni of De Mazenod College Kandy Crusaders cricketers Uva Next cricketers Sinhalese people Cricketers from Colombo