Milan Rathnayake breaks 41 years old record during SL vs ENG 1st Test
Sri Lanka’s pacer Milan Rathnayake created history by breaking 41-year old record. During a Test match against England, Milan smashed 72 runs, the highest score by a no.9 player on Test debut.
Milan Rathnayake came to bat when his team was reduced to 113/7 in 34 overs. From there he scored a fantastic 72 runs off 135 balls and helped Sri Lanka post a competitive total of 236 runs.
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Sri Lanka’s match started on 21 August 2024 against England and was Milan Rathnayake’s debut match. In his debut match, he broke 41 years old the record of India’s pacer Balwinder Sandhu. Balwinder played an inning of 71 runs for the 9th wicket.
SL vs ENG 1st Test
Chris Workes’ double strike to dismiss Nishan Madushka and Angelo Matthews reduced Sri Lanka to 113/7. Chris Woakes took 3 wickets and conceded 32 runs. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s skipper Dhananjaya de Silva added 63 runs for the 8th wicket, then Milan added another 50 crucial runs with fellow pacer Vishwa Fernando before being dismissed by Shoaib Bashir.
Shoaib Bashir scalped 3 wickets for 55 runs. Gus Atkinson and Mark Wood chipped in with 2 and 1 wicket, respectively. Captain Dhananjaya de Silva was the top scorer for Sri Lanka with 74 runs off just 84 balls.
Milan Rathnayake gets his Test debut at 28. However, he was selected for a one-off Test against Afghanistan but didn’t feature in that game. In his first-class career, Milan has played 39 matches, bagged 79 wickets and scored 633 runs. His highest score in 59 runs.
Notably, the SL vs ENG Test series is important for both teams as the World Test Championship (WTC) is approaching. England stands in 7th position, whereas, Sri Lanka stands comfortably in 4th position.
Milan Rathnayake had a dream debut match. He will aim to continue with this form in future and help his team to win the match in any situation.
