Pathum Nissanka registers a Double Ton as he becomes the first ever Sri Lankan player to achieve this remarkable feat
Pathum Nissanka, the opening batsman for Sri Lanka, made history by being the first player in the nation to score 200 runs in an ODI. In the opening ODI of the series against Afghanistan in Pallekele, Nissanka recorded the nation’s first-ever double century in the format.
With 20 fours and eight sixes in a spectacular knock, the opener, who was still undefeated at 210 from just 139 balls, helped Sri Lanka to a massive 381/3. Nissanka is the fifth batsman to carry the bat after scoring a double century, and his 210* is the fifth-highest individual score in ODI history.
In the meantime, after losing the toss and opting to bat first, Sri Lanka’s openers, Nissanka and Avishka Fernando, gave the home team a great start as they shut down the Afghanistan attack.
On a beautiful day at Pallekele, the bowling line-up without Rashid Khan appeared clueless, with every player leaking runs even over boundary restriction overs.
After eight innings, Fernando reached his first ODI fifty, however he was dismissed for 88 runs off of 88 balls, despite hitting three sixes and eight fours. To everyone’s delight, Nissanka soon reached his hundred.
Kusal and Nissanka, the following partnership, put up 42 runs for the second wicket before Nabi caught the captain Kusal Mendis at 16.
Samarawickrama and Nissanka maintained the run rate, but the middle-order batsman lost his wicket to Fareed Ahmad on 45 off 36 balls before he could reach his fifty.
SURPASSES SANATH JAYASURIYA’S RECORD
Nissanka broke Jayasuriya’s record of 189 when he hit a six off the first ball of the last over, just after he was dismissed.
He kept up the assault, hitting 20 boundary runs in the final over to lead his team to 381 for three.
With an incredible 210*, Nissanka achieved the sixth-highest individual total in ODI history.
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