Cricket was introduced to the island of Sri Lanka by the British, and the first official match was played in 1832. Sri Lanka, which was known as Ceylon back then played their maiden first-class match in 1905 but made their international debut in the 1975 World Cup.
On 21 July 1981, Sri Lanka was accorded full member status by the International Cricket Council on July 21, 1981, and played their first Test match against England in February 1982. The hosts lost their first game by 8 wickets, but have since only progressed a great deal, and today the island nation is a proud cricketing country.
Over the years, there have been many firsts in the country, and the beautiful island has seen many records which will forever be remembered around cricketing circles. The vibrant nation has played host to several records, and here in this list, we take a look a few of the firsts which have taken place in the country.
#1 Sachin Tendulkar's first ODI century
After 78 One Day Internationals, a 21-year old Sachin Tendulkar finally scored his first ODI century against the Australians in Colombo. The maestro scored 110 off 130 balls in the third match of the Singer World Series, a tournament which also saw the participation of Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
India scored 246/8 in their allotted 50 overs. In reply, Australia were bundled out for 215, and thus India romped home by 31 runs.
This was the beginning of a dominating ODI career for Sachin who went on to score 49 centuries in 462 matches, all this in a career which spanned for almost 24 years.
#2 2002 Champions Trophy shared
The 2002 Champions Trophy was historical in many sense, as it was played over two days owing to inclement weather. The match between India and Sri Lanka was played on 29 and then again on 30 September 2002 at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
On the first day, Sri Lanka scored 244 runs in their 50 overs. India's chase got underway and they were 14 runs for no loss in two overs before the rain came down and the match had to be abandoned.
The match once again resumed from scratch on the reserve day, and Sri Lanka scored 222 runs in their innings. India were 38 runs for the loss of Dinesh Mongia in 8.4 overs ¸but then once again rain played spoilsport. Thus, the trophy had to be shared between the two nations.
#3 Introduction of the Decision Review System
In order to eliminate umpiring howlers during a cricket match, the ICC introduced the Umpire Decision Review System, and India was the first country to play with this new service during the 2008 series against Sri Lanka.
Virender Sehwag became the first batsman to be adjudged out using the Decision Review System as he was given lbw after Muttiah Muralitharan challenged the original not-out on-field decision. India had used around 20 referrals but only 2 were ruled in their favour. This was a rather controversial beginning and it started a very stressed out relationship of the DRS with the BCCI, which has opposed the system ever since.
#4 Highest innings score in a Test match
This historical match was played between India and Sri Lanka on a placid pitch at Colombo's R Premadasa Stadium in September 1997. India scored 537 for 8 in the first innings, which included centuries from Sachin Tendulkar, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Mohammed Azharuddin.
What followed was historical and in many ways a very poor advert for Test cricket. On the placid pitch, Sri Lanka amassed 952 runs for 8 wickets, in an innings which lasted for 271 overs. Sanath Jayasuriya plundered 340 runs and was involved in a 576-runs partnership with Roshan Mahanama, who scored 225 runs himself.
The duo batted all through the third as well as the fourth day, and thus became the first pair to carry their bat over two complete days.
#5 Nilesh Kulkarni wicket off the first ball
This lanky left-arm spinner from Mumbai entered record books when he took a wicket with his first ball in Test cricket, as he became the only Indian bowler to achieve this feat. He took the wicket of Marvan Atapattu, but then could not pick any other as he toiled away for 70 overs.
Kulkarni could only play 2 more matches in his career, and picked up just 2 wickets. He retired from First class cricket in 2010.
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