SL's Lahiru Udara attains numerous feats with 188 vs WI
What's the story
Sri Lankan opener Lahiru Udara scripted a ton of records with a breathtaking 188 on Day 1 of the second Test against West Indies at North Sound, Antigua, on Friday. During his stay, the youngster became the first Sri Lankan opening batter to hit five sixes in a single Test innings. He also recorded the highest score by a Lankan batter in West Indies. Here are further details.
Knock
Udara leads Sri Lanka's charge
Batting first in the game, Sri Lanka lost Nishan Madushka and Dinesh Chandimal early on before Kamindu Mendis (84) joined Udara, and the two kept the home team at bay. Handed a life, Udara made most of the same and got to a superb hundred in the 37th over. The youngster held his fort and started countering the West Indian pacers with some impressive boundaries. Udara dominated a 215-run stand with Mendis before further adding 93 runs alongside skipper Dhananjaya de Silva (33).
Match details
Udara misses out on double-ton
Udara narrowly missed out on a double hundred as Alzarri Joseph cut short his stay. The former, playing just his third Test, scored an impressive 188 runs off 248 balls. He batted at a strike rate of 75.81, hitting 21 fours and five sixes during his innings. His maiden 50-plus score in the format took him to 266 runs across four innings at 66.50.
Record broken
Jayasuriya previously held this record
As per ESPNcricinfo, Udara's five sixes made him the SL opener with the most maximums in a Test innings. The previous national record was held by Sanath Jayasuriya. During his international career that spanned over two decades, Jayasuriya had hit four sixes in a Test innings on two occasions. Udara also became the first opener overall to hit five maximums in an innings versus WI.
Additional feat
Highest individual score by a Sri Lankan opener in WI
Though Udara missed out on the 200-run mark, he broke Dimuth Karunaratne's record for the highest score by a Sri Lankan opening batter in a Test match against West Indies. Karunaratne had scored 186 in the first innings of the 2015 Galle Test. Having made 204* in the 2001 Colombo Test, Hashan Tillakaratne is now the only Sri Lankan with a better individual score than Udara in a Test innings versus WI.
More records
Udara in a league of his own
Udara also became the first Lankan batter with a 140-plus score in an innings in the Caribbean. His innings strike rate of 75.8 is the best for a visiting opener with a century in WI. He is only behind India's Virender Sehwag, who struck at 94.73 en route to his 180 in the 2006 Gros Islet match.