Sports
Sangakkara creates three ODI cricket landmarks
Hobart, March 11
Veteran wicketkeeper-batsman
Kumar Sangakkara on Wednesday registered three One-Day International
(ODI) cricket world records -- two with the bat and one with the gloves
as Sri Lanka hammered Scotland by 148 runs in a World Cup Pool A match
at the Bellerive Oval here.
Continuing his good form, Sangakkara,
37, once again showed his master class with a 95-ball 124. With this he
became the first batsman to record four consecutive hundreds and
registered his 25th ODI ton. In the process, he also became the first
batsman to score four centuries in a World Cup and in an ODI tournament.
Sangakkara,
who will quit ODI cricket post this World Cup, passed his three figure
mark in 86 balls to complement his scores of 105 not out against
Bangladesh, 117 unbeaten against England and 104 against Australia from
earlier ties in the tournament.
On Sunday, the left-hander became
just the seventh man in history and the first in a World Cup to score
three consecutive ODI centuries, and on Wedneday he claimed the record
for his own.
Sangakkara hit 13 fours and four sixes off the 95
balls he faced in his innings. He edged it to wicketkeeper Matthew Cross
off a Josh Davey delivery.
It is his 62 international century in
an incredible career that is now in its 15th year. The veteran
wicketkeeper-batsman announced before the World Cup began that he would
retire from ODI cricket at the end of the tournament.
Not content
with run-scoring records, he also became the first man to effect 500
ODI dismissals. Coming into the match, he had 400 catches. He took two
catches of Cross and Michael Leask. He now has 402 catches and 99
stumpings to his credit.
He also passed Adam Gilchrist's record
of 52 World Cup dismissals by taking the catch off a faint edge from
Leask. By the end of the match, he had taken 41 catches and made 13
stumpings in World Cups.
Gilchrist made 45 catches and seven stumpings in 31 World Cup matches (Sangakkara was playing his 36th).
Earlier
in this tournament, Sangakkara became fourth cricketer in history to
play 400 ODIs, behind Indian Sachin Tendulkar (463) and compatriots
Sanath Jayasurya (445) and Mahela Jayawardene (444).
Sangakkara
scored 104 against Australia on Sunday and also became the second
batsman after India's Sachin Tendulkar (18,426) to cross 14,000 runs in
the 50-over format. He left greats like Ricky Ponting (13,704),
Jayasuriya (13,430) behind in the illustrious list.
The World Cup
will be the last ODI assignment for Sangakkara and he already has
ensured he will sign off on a high, at least on the personal front.
"Sometimes
things just fall in place. Everything clicks. No matter how hard you
try to find that one thing, it becomes difficult," Sangakkara said after
being adjudged man-of-the-match.
"I am not sure what that one thing is, but it is definitely working for me at the moment, so hopefully I can keep onto it.