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5 batsmen with most ODI runs under lights

Sri Lanka v West Indies - ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014
Dilshan played 81 ODI innings after sundown and scored 2,898 runs

Before November 27, 1978, cricket was always played under natural light and since that historic date, the sun never sets on the gentleman's game.

The concept of cricket under lights was brought to the fore by Kerry Packer in 1977 when he invited over 50 leading cricketers to play in his World Series Cricket.

However, the first day-night ODI was played at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground between Australia and the West Indies, changing the landscape of limited-overs cricket forever.

In 2012, 36 years after the first floodlit ODI was played, the International Cricket Council (ICC) paved the way to stage day-night Test matches in a bid to improve the popularity of the longest form of the game.

Australia who are currently playing their fourth D/N five-day game, made history at Adelaide Oval when they hosted New Zealand in the first-ever pink-ball Test in November 2015.

Now, let's have a look at those five batsmen, who have scored maximum runs while chasing under lights.


#5 Tillakaratne Dilshan

Tillakaratne Dilshan, who made his ODI debut in December 1999, did not play his first day-night game until June 1, 2000. However, it was in November 2003 that the Sri Lankan came out to chase a target under the lights.

Between 2003 and 2015, Dilshan played 81 ODI innings after sundown and scored 2,898 runs at an average of 40.81. He scored eight tons and 11 fifties while batting second in a floodlit stadium.

Dilshan's highest score while chasing in a day-night game came in a nail-biting thriller against India at Nagpur in 2009.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni opted to bat and the Men in Blue posted a target of 301 for the visitors. Riding on Dilshan's 113-ball 123 Sri Lanka defeated India by three wickets with five balls remaining.

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