Malinga holds up on much-awaited return

To understand the importance of the 27 deliveries bowled by Lasith Malinga at a blisteringly chilly Hagley Oval on Monday, it is important to understand where he's been over the last six months. In September, Malinga underwent arthroscopic surgery on a troublesome left ankle. In December, recurring pain sent him to Melbourne for another visit with his orthopaedic surgeon. He arrived in New Zealand last month with his ankle strapped. There were concerns over one of his knees.

Coming into this important match, Angelo Mathews, his captain, termed Malinga as the team's X-factor. Kumar Sangakkara concurred. Mahela Jayawardene reckoned Malinga's experience gave Sri Lanka "ten percent more" on the field.

A day before he turned out for Sri Lanka in their first World Cup warm-up against South Africa, Malinga himself spoke in distinctly different tones, saying matter-of-factly that he felt pain every time his left foot landed on delivery in the nets. Would he play on Monday? And if he did, would Malinga bowl at full pelt or gently ease himself back? The questions were obvious but significant.

On the day, Malinga took the field without a lot of energy, given the ball by Mathews. He warmed up. Within a minute he was beginning his run in towards Hashim Amla. The first ball was pitched up outside off stump. Amla let it pass. The second was also safely negotiated. The third was a fraction fuller and found Amla's edge along the ground to third man. To the left-hander, Quinton de Kock, Malinga started on a drivable length. Crack off the bat, straight to the fielder at cover. The next two balls were yorkers, played out by de Kock. After each ball, a quick enough turn on his heels for Malinga, eager to get back to his mark.

A good start for a bowler in his first competitive game in nearly five months. There were no visible signs of pain in Malinga's actions or expressions.

Between his first and second overs, he had a laugh with on-field umpire Richard Illingworth. His second over produced two fours, as Amla cracked a short ball and clipped off his pads with grace. But there were also two late-moving yorkers. You could sense Malinga's eagerness to produce his stock delivery with precision, especially after the short ball to Amla failed. A fumble by the midwicket fielder first ball of Malinga's third over got de Kock on strike, and he was fed a low full toss, two full deliveries, a nice yorker and a wider ball between cover and point for two.

After that short spell (3-0-16-0), Malinga spent his time at the boundary, hands in his pockets when the ball didn't come his way. His second spell was not until the 27th over of South Africa's chase, with their target being 31 off 18 balls. The death overs, Malinga's forte. What would he do? He'd nailed the yorkers very well early in the chase, but now South Africa were gunning for runs every ball.

His first two balls were driven and heaved for fours by Faf du Plessis. The third yielded two runs. Malinga was pitching either on a length or too wide. Then, on the fourth, he went fuller. Du Pleases tried to clear his front leg and swing hard but the ball caught the lower half of the bat and flew down towards long-on, where Nuwan Kulasekara dived and held a neat catch. Malinga raised a fist to punctuate his success. There were backslaps. His team-mates knew the importance of Malinga getting a wicket.

Three runs off the last two balls left South Africa needing 18 off 12. When Malinga came back to bowl the last over, the equation had been whittled down to four runs. Maybe Malinga of 2007 could have done something extraordinary, but this was too much to ask. Two singles and a double ended the match and Malinga finished with figures of 4.3-0-33-1. An economy rate of 7.33. This was reduced speed, but he wasn't bowling at 128 kph either. He was nippy, and looking to bowl the yorker a lot.

Malinga has left an imprint on each of the two previous World Cups he's featured in. In the 2007 edition in the West Indies, against South Africa, he famously nipped out four wickets in four balls to take Sri Lanka to the brink of victory. In 2011, he became the first bowler to pick up two hat-tricks at the World Cup when he flattened Kenya with a career-best 6 for 38. Now, aged 31 and heading into his third and final World Cup, the golden-curled slinger with the most unorthodox bowling action in international cricket remains the bowling spearhead for Sri Lanka. But the circumstances have changed.

And yet Malinga could still have a massive part to play for Sri Lanka in this World Cup. If you're in the vicinity of Christchurch on February 14, make it a point to head down to Hagley Oval for game one between Sri Lanka and New Zealand. You may get to see some Malinga magic.