Leading Sri Lanka’s charge towards a memorable Test victory against England at the Oval; Pathum Nissanka created history on Monday (September 9) by becoming the first player in the 144-year-old history of Test cricket being played in England.
Nissanka had an outing to remember as he has proven to be the difference between both sides with the bat. In the first innings, the star opener hit a quick-fire knock of 64 in just 51 balls. He reached his half-century in just 41 balls.
In the second innings, Nissanka started from where he left off in the first outing and continued to take the attack to the English bowling unit. The 26-year-old hit yet another half-century, and this time he reached the milestone in just 42 balls to put Sri Lanka in the drivers seat heading into the fifth day of play as they aim to ensure England are unable to complete a series whitewash.
Pathum Nissanka Creates History
Nissanka wrote his name in the history books by becoming the first player in history to score half-centuries in both innings of a Test match at quicker than run-a-ball on English soil. No player before, Nissanka had completed twin half-centuries in the same at a strike-rate above 100 since 1880 when the first-ever Test match in England was played in a period that has seen a stunning 559 matches played in the country.
Overall, Nissanka is only the 9th player to achieve the feat in test cricket history (2nd Sri Lankan) after Mark Greatbach, Nathan Astle, Tilakaratne Dilshan, Chris Gayle, Jermaine Blackwood, David Warner, Zak Crawley, and Harry Brook. Both Crawley and Brook achieved the feat outside England. Nissanka is also the first player to achieve the feat against England.
Nissanka continued Sri Lanka’s charge and reached a century in the fourth inning in just 107 balls. This is only the second Test century of his career, and he is only the third Sri Lankan to hit a ton at the Oval in Test cricket. He is set to become only the 7th batter in history to score a fourth-inning century in England in a winning cause. Sri Lanka won a Test match in England for only the fourth time after Oval 1998, Nottingham 2006, and Leeds 2014.
