Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne achieved a rare feat in the pink-ball game against India which they lost by 238 runs on Monday (March 14) at Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore. Karunaratne has become the first opener cum skipper to score a century in the fourth innings of a Day-Night Test.
Karunaratne blazed with 107 off 174 in Sri Lanka's second innings as they failed to chase a 447-run target set by India, who clinched the Test series sweep 2-0.
Karunaratne struck his second ton in the Day-Night Test to emulate Pakistan's Asad Shafiq while Australia's Marnus Labuschagne remains on top of the list with three Day-Night Test centuries. Notably, it is also the third instance of a Lankan captain scoring a century on Indian soil.
Most centuries in D/N Tests:
3 - Marnus Labuschagne
2 - Asad Shafiq
2 - Dimuth Karunaratne*
The special knock also earned Karunaratne a flurry of records who tried his best to keep India's bowlers in check but he didn't get the support from the other end as Sri Lanka followed their first innings fiasco handing India a Test whitewash.
Karunaratne has also become the second Sri Lankan to score most centuries being a Test opener for his team. So far he has clobbered fourteen centuries to lie ahead of former Sri Lanka player Sanath Jayasurya who has 13 tons against his name. Marvan Atapattu is the first in the list with sixteen centuries.
Most centuries by Sri Lankan openers in Tests:
16 - Marvan Atapattu
14 - Dimuth Karunaratne*
13 - Sanath Jayasuriya
India beat Sri Lanka by a huge margin of 238 runs in the second Test with more than seven sessions to spare. Rohit Sharma started in style as he won his debut Test series convincingly. Dimuth Karunaratne delayed the inevitable with his record-breaking century but it went in vain as Sri Lankan middle-order batters displayed lack of application once again.
Indian bowlers got an unexpected fightback from Sri Lankan batters on Day 3 of the pink-ball test at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium. Karunaratne did not let Sri Lanka post another low score as he shared a 97-run partnership for the second wicket Kusal Mendis. Even after Mendis’ wicket after a 60-ball 54, Karunaratne seemed like he was batting on a different pitch which did not favour the spinners.
While wickets kept falling at the other end, the Sri Lankan skipper scripted history as he became the first captain and opener to score a century in the fourth innings of a pink-ball Test. The left-handed batter’s resistance came to an end as Jasprit Bumrah cleaned him up from around the wicket. He scored 107 runs from 174 deliveries including 15 fours. Also, he became the seventh Sri Lankan captain to score a Test century against India.
