New Delhi: Milan Rathnayake has broken a 41-year-old record which was previously held by Balwinder Sandhu of India. Rathnayake scored the highest score by any batsman at 9 in men’s red-ball cricket.
Day 1 Highlights⇩⇩
Sandhu had previously scored 71 runs against arch-rivals Pakistan in Hyderabad in 1983. Rathnayake has improved that score by 1 run to score 72 runs off 135 balls. Milan’s adventurous inning was finally cut short by the right-arm English off-spinner Shoaib Bashir. In his 135-ball innings, the Sri Lankan bowling allrounder smashed 6 fours and 2 sixes during his 135-ball innings.
List of highest scores at no.9 in Men’s red-ball cricket
It didn't take long for Milan Rathnayake to make an impression on his Test debut 💪#ENGvSL | #WTC25
More 👉 https://t.co/AELBNTNTBA pic.twitter.com/ssXh0cx4UE
— ICC (@ICC) August 22, 2024
What happened in the match?
On day 1 of the first test of England vs Sri Lanka, the visitors were ripped apart by the pace duo of Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson. When Rathnayake came to the crease the team was tattering at 113/7. But when everything was in the doldrums for the visiting side, inspiration came from the most unlikely sides.
Milan Rathnayake announces himself on the Test stage with a brilliant maiden fifty (72)! What a start to his career. #ENGvSL pic.twitter.com/w0h1pIFWQ7
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) August 21, 2024
Rathnayake and skipper Dhananjaya de Silva stitched together a partnership of 63 runs which saved the batting collapse of the Lankan side. Skipper Dhananjaya de Silva was the top scorer for the visitors with a quickfire 74 off 84 balls. The Lankan innings folded in the end for 236 runs.
Some fightback by Sri Lanka after they were 6/3 & 113/7. Milan Rathnayake with a very special knock – the highest ever score by a no.9 on debut. 👏
A huge waste though choosing to bowl spin at the end. Gave away 22 cheap runs instead of bowling with a brand new ball in the… pic.twitter.com/mnGiwfoSH4
— CricBlog ✍ (@cric_blog) August 21, 2024
In response, the English batters came out all guns blazing. But just as things were looking to tilt in favour of the hosts, the visitors managed to scalp two quick wickets towards the end of Day 1 to leave the side in a spot of bother at 27/2.
