SL vs AFG 1st ODI: Right-handed opening batter Pathum Nissanka created history and became the first-ever Sri Lankan batter to score a double hundred in One Day International match. Nissanka achieved the feat while batting against Afghanistan in the 1st of the three-match ODI series on Friday, 9 February.
Afghanistan are currently on a tour of Sri Lanka. They were scheduled to play a test, three ODIs and three T20Is. Afghanistan lost the only test by 10 wickets. They were scheduled to play the ODIs on 9, 11 and 14 February.
In the first ODI, after Afghanistan asked Sri Lanka to bat first, the latter scored 381 runs in the match while losing 3 wickets. Nissanka was the highlight of the show, playing a patient innings alongside Avishka Fernando. Before Fernando got out for a run-a-ball 88, the openers amassed 182 runs in 26.2 overs. After that, Nissanka changed gears and humiliated the Afghan team, finishing unbeaten at 210 off just 139 balls.
With a stunning performance that included 20 fours and eight sixes, he led Sri Lanka to an enormous total. Nissanka becomes the sixth batsman to carry the bat after scoring a double century, and his 210* is the fifth-highest individual score in ODI history.
Nissanka became just the tenth player in ODI cricket history to achieve a double hundred. Before him, the feat had been accomplished by Australia’s Glenn Maxwell, New Zealand’s Martin Guptill, Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman, the West Indies’ Chris Gayle, and India’s Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Ishan Kishan.
The highest individual score in the fifty-over format is still Rohit Sharma’s 264, which he scored against Sri Lanka in 2014 at Eden Gardens. Nissanka’s 210* is now the ODI format’s shared fifth-highest individual score.
Nissanka’s 210* Among top scores
- Rohit Sharma – 264 vs Sri Lanka, 2014
- Martin Guptill – 237* vs West Indies, 2015
- Virender Sehwag – 219 vs West Indies, 2011
- Chris Gayle – 215 vs Zimbabwe, 2015
- Fakhar Zaman – 210* vs Zimbabwe, 2018
- Pathum Nissanka – 210* vs Afghanistan, 2024
That being said, Nissanka’s knock is currently the third-fastest double-ton in ODI history. He passed former cricketers Chris Gayle (138 balls), Virender Sehwag (140 balls), and Sachin Tendulkar (140 balls) by reaching the milestone in just 136 balls. Only Ishan Kishan (126 balls) and Glenn Maxwell (128) have scored 200 quicker than him.
To be fair, he also became the first player for Sri Lanka to score more than 189 in an ODI, breaking the record set by former opener Sanath Jayasuriya, which had held for more than 23 years.
Indeed, Jayasuriya congratulated Nissanka on social networking platform X as well. “Congratulations to Pathum on a masterclass in batting. I am so so privileged to witness it in person pure bliss,” the former skipper of Sri Lanka wrote.
Source- Official Sri Lanka Cricket