Cricinfo - Players and Officials - Dilhara Lokuhettige

Full name Loku Hettige Danushka Dilhara
Born July 3, 1980, Colombo
Current age 28 years 101 days
Major teams Sri Lanka, Antonians Sports Club, Galle Cricket Club, Moors Sports Club, Ruhuna, Uva Province
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium

Batting and fielding averages

Mat

Inns

Runs

Ave

100

ODIs

9.62

90.58

T20Is

First-class

123

2730

211

24.15

List A

1167

18.52

Twenty20

160

14.54

Bowling averages

Mat

Inns

Balls

Runs

Wkts

BBI

BBM

Ave

Econ

ODIs

282

221

2/30

36.83

4.70

47.0

T20Is

8.00

First-class

9585

5026

194

7/64

25.90

3.14

49.4

List A

2705

1968

4/65

30.75

4.36

42.2

Twenty20

188

249

1/20

49.80

7.94

37.6

Career statistics

ODI debut

Sri Lanka v India at Dambulla, Jul 30, 2005 scorecard

Last ODI

India v Sri Lanka at Vadodara, Nov 12, 2005 scorecard

ODI statistics

Only T20I

Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe at King City (NW), Oct 10, 2008 scorecard

T20I statistics

First-class debut

2000/01

Last First-class

Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club v Moors Sports Club at Colombo (PSS), Mar 27-30, 2008 scorecard

List A debut

2000/01

Last List A

Kandurata v Ruhuna at Colombo (RPS), Jan 8, 2008 scorecard

Twenty20 debut

Moors Sports Club v Ragama Cricket Club at Colombo (NCC), Aug 17, 2004 scorecard

Last Twenty20

Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe at King City (NW), Oct 10, 2008 scorecard

Dilhara Lokuhettige is one of the first Sri Lankan cricketers to be labeled a Twenty20 specialist. His reputation as a dangerous Twenty20 player has been built on his powerful batting - as a pinch-hitter or lower order batsman - coupled with his bustling seam bowling.

As a schoolboy, Lokuhettige captained Asoka Vidyalaya in Colombo from the Under-13 age group up to the First XI. He got his first major break towards earning a national cap when he joined Bloomfield in 1999 and met Ruchira Palliyaguru, the club's fast bowler, who recommended him to the Sri Lanka Cricket fast-bowling academy. There he came under the watchful eyes of Champaka Ramanayake, the head of the academy. Lokuhettige played one season for Antonians SC and then joined Galle CC where Ramanayake was also the coach. Lokuhettige got his international break in 2005 during the Indian Oil Cup but a side strain ruled him out of the following tours to New Zealand and Australia.

Lokuhettige is not an express fast bowler but he is accurate and can swing the ball both ways. He is a hard-hitting batsmen too, with his favourite stroke being the lofted drive. Sri Lanka's selectors started to eye him as a possible Twenty20 specialist in 2007 when he was called up to the 20-man training pool for the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa. He also has a reputation for being a match-winner in six-a-side cricket, having played four times in the Hong Kong Sixes. In 2007 he played a crucial role in helping Sri Lanka win the tournament, smashing 30 in an over during the semi-final against New Zealand. Earlier in 2008 he excelled during the inaugural Provincial Twenty20 tournament in Sri Lanka and also gained experienced playing club cricket in England. Lokuhettige was called up for Sri Lanka's Twenty20 squad in September 2008.
Sa'adi Thawfeeq October 2008

Jul 30, 2005

Dilhara Lokuhettige hits a six in during an invaluable cameo © AFP

Jul 30, 2005

Dilhara Lokuhettige celebrates the dismissal of Mahendra Singh Dhoni © AFP

Sep 9, 2004

Danushka Dilhara © Cricinfo Ltd

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