Kumar Sangkkara becomes 4th player in Test cricket history to slam 50+ score in 7 consecutive innings
Kumar Sangakkara continued his rich vein of form as he slammed a half-century in his 7th consecutive innings in the 2nd Test between England and Sri Lanka at Leeds today.
The Sri Lankan southpaw became the 4th batsman in the history of Test cricket to slam seven 50+ scores in consecutive innings, matching the feats of Everton Weeks, Andy Flower and Shivnarine Chanderpaul before him. Nobody has hit an 8th 50+ score in consecutive innings.
Cricketers who have hit most 50+ scores in consecutive innings:
| Player | 50+ scores | Span |
| Sir Everton Weekes (WI) | 141, 128, 194, 162, 101, 90, 56 | Mar 1948 – Feb 1949 |
| Andy Flower (Zim) | 65, 183*, 70, 55, 232*, 79, 73 | Sep 2000 – Apr 2001 |
| Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI) | 69, 74, 50, 116*, 136*, 70, 104 | Nov 2006 – Dec 2007 |
| Kumar Sangakkara (SL) | 75, 319, 105, 147, 61, 79, 55 | Jan 2014 – Jun 2014 |
The record for most 50+ scores in consecutive matches belongs to South Africa’s AB de Villiers, who slammed twelve 50+ scores in consecutive matches between November 2012 and February 2014.
Sri Lanka began their 2nd innings today 108 runs behind England in the 2nd Test, with Sangakkara joining Dimuth Karunaratne in the 21st over, with 40 runs on board. He first stitched a 53-run partnership with Karunaratne and when the opener fell for 45, Sangakkara was joined by Mahela Jayawardene in the middle.
The experienced duo were then involved in the 3rd wicket partnership of 79 runs, which brought Sri Lanka to a comfortable territory before Sanga’s wicket was followed by dismissal of Lahiru Thirimanne in a short while. At the time of writing, Jayawardene and skipper Angelo Mathews were unbeated on the crease.