Pakistan v Sri Lanka 2017: 2nd Test, Day 1 – Statistical Highlights

Sri Lanka started off the 2nd Test in a similar fashion to how things had got underway in the 1st Test. The visiting side ended the day with a total of 254 runs on the board for the loss of 3 wickets. Dimuth Karunaratne’s unbeaten 133 kept them on the top throughout the day while his unbeaten 118-run stand with the captain Dinesh Chandimal put them in a commanding position.

Here we look at all the stats and records created during the day’s play.

1 – Dimuth Karunaratne became the first Sri Lankan to score a century in day/night Test match. He was the first Sri Lankan to score a century in pink ball first-class cricket as well when he scored 131 against Windies A in 2016 at Colombo.

4 – Karunaratne and Chandimal pair is only the 4th Sri Lankan pair with multiple 100+ stands in a Test series outside home. Roy Dias and Duleep Mendis against India in 1982, Marvan Atapattu with Mahela Jayawardene against England in 2002 and Sanath Jayasuriya against Zimbabwe in 2004 had two century stands.

44 – Number of players who’ve represented Sri Lanka in International cricket in 2017. These are the joint-most number of players featuring for a team in a calendar year across formats. Pakistan in 2015, Australia and Sri Lanka in 2016 also had 44 players featuring for them across the three formats.

108.57 – Sadeera Samarawickrama’s strike rate of 108.57 during his 35-ball 38 is the highest for a No.3 batsman on Test debut. The previous highest was 108.33 by Alex Stewart during his 12-ball 13 in 1990 against Windies.

108.57 – Samarawickrama’s strike rate of 108.57 in this innings is the highest for a Sri Lankan on Test debut. (Min: 30 runs scored) Avishka Gunawardene in 1999 and Dimuth Karunaratne in 2012 scored run-a-ball 43 and 60* respectively.

870 – Runs Dimuth Karunaratne has scored in 2017 in Test cricket so far. These are the most runs by a Sri Lankan opener in a year in this format since Marvan Atapattu (966) in 2004. His three centuries this year are also the most for a Sri Lankan opener since Tillakaratne Dilshan in 2012.

2003 – Last time before Karunaratne, a Sri Lankan opener batted out the opening day of an away Test match was Marvan Atapattu in 2003 against Windies at Gros Islet. (Unreduced day)