Charith Asalanka hammers his 4th ODI century: Key stats
What's the story
Charith Asalanka was the lone warrior for Sri Lanka in the first ODI against Australia at R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on Wednesday. Asalanka hit a splendid 127-run knock from 126 balls. He did majority of the scoring as the hosts were folded for 214 in 46 overs. Dunith Wellalage was the next best scorer with 30 runs. Here are further details.
Knock
A spectacular knock under the circumstances
Asalanka was on 50* when number 10 batter Eshan Malinga joined him with the team in tatters at 135 for 8. Asalanka produced a heroic show thereafter and kept the strike. The 9th wicket stand was worth 79 runs and Asalanka tallied 77 of them. Malinga needs to be praised as well for hanging around. He faced 26 balls for his 1*.
Stats
2nd century in ODIs versus Australia
Asalanka's 127 was laced with 14 fours and five sixes. He struck at 100.79. With this knock, Asalanka has raced to 2,296 runs at 41.74. This was his 4th ODI ton. He also owns 14 fifties. In 7 matches versus Australia, he has 339 runs at 56.50. This was his 2nd century against Australia. Notably, this is also his career-best ODI score.
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2,000 runs on Asian soil for Asalanka
As per ESPNcricinfo, Asalanka has surpassed 2,000 runs in Asia. He owns 2,084 runs at 47.36. All four of his tons have come in Asia (50s: 13). Meanwhile, he also surpassed 1,500 ODI runs in Sri Lanka (1,575). He averages 54.31 at home.