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Sri Lanka debutant Rathnayake creates history!

By REDIFF CRICKET
August 22, 2024 09:12 IST

IMAGE: Sri Lankan Milan Rathnayake scored a brilliant 72 from 135 balls for the best score by any batter at No. 9 on Test debut. Photograph: Lee Smith/Reuters

Sri Lanka's debutant Milan Rathnayake broke a 41-year-old record -- registering the highest score by a No 9 on debut, during Day 1 of the first Test against England at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

Rathnayake scored a brilliant 72 from 135 balls for the best score by any batter at No. 9 on Test debut, surpassing the previous highest of 71 by India's Balwinder Sandhu against Pakistan in Hyderabad in 1983.

Coming into bat with Sri Lanka struggling 113/7, Rathnayake's knock rallied Sri Lanka to a competitive total of 236 in their first innings.

He put on a vital stand of 63 for the eighth wicket with skipper Dhananjaya de Silva, who stroked 74 to rescue the visitors.

 

England pacers Chris Woakes (3/32) and Gus Atkinson (2/48) had ripped through the Sri Lankan top-order to leave them struggling on 80/5 at lunch.

REDIFF CRICKET

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