Top 5 'firsts' in cricket to take place in Sri Lanka
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.