Rangana Herath didn’t bowl much during the first innings but when he came to bat, he turned out to be the highest scorer from both the sides. On the 4th day of the first India vs Sri Lanka Test match at the Eden Gardens, the Indian pacers were back in their form. Lankan wickets were falling at regular intervals before Herath stepped into the field to bat at number 9. He batted in his own style and scored 43 runs off 67 balls till the lunch break. In the second session, Herath got his 3rd Test fifty in the 78th over by hitting a four.
With this fifty, the senior-most player of the visiting team has set a few records:
- He holds the Sri Lankan record for most first-class runs without a hundred. He is nearing to 5,000 runs
- He is now the 3rd oldest player (39 years 242 days) in the world to score a fifty in Test cricket against India in India
- He has become the 2nd oldest visiting player to appear in a Test in India after John Traicos (45y 300d), the oldest ever, for Zimbabwe in 1993
- He is now the oldest batsman to score fifty-plus runs in Tests played in India batting at No.8 or lower
- He became the first player from Sri Lanka to achieve the double of 1500 runs & 400 wickets in Tests
While Herath came up with his 3rd Test fifty, Indian cricket fans took their Twitter accounts and praised his inning which helped Sri Lanka taking a lead over 100 runs. Here’s how they applauded for Herath’s efforts:
He bats in his own style, is amusing and clumsy occasionally, but Rangana Herath is the person you want in a tough situation. Invaluable 50, this
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) November 19, 2017
Rangana Herath holds the Sri Lankan record for most first class runs without a hundred. He is nearing to 5,000 runs.#CricStatsSL
— AQEEB (@AAQEEEB) November 19, 2017
Oldest Sri Lankans to score a 50-plus score in Tests:
40y 273d Somachandra De Silva v NZ, 1983
39y 242d RANGANA HERATH #INDvSL, TODAY— Hemant Brar (@Cricquest) November 19, 2017
Well played Rangana Herath. He is always there to contribute to the team. Didn’t get to bowl much;but certainly making it count with the bat. These are valuable runs. #IndvSL
— Aashish Poudel (@AsisPdl07) November 19, 2017
Rangana Herath is playing better than Virat Kohli Nowadays.#INDvSL
— •Sudhanshu• (@Indian_nagrik_) November 19, 2017
Rangana Herath showing everybody how to bat on this track! #INDvSL
— Ayantan Chowdhury (@ac_don) November 19, 2017
Congratulations to the great Rangana Herath who became the first player from Sri Lanka to achieve the double of 1500 runs & 400 wickets in Tests!#INDvSL #SriLanka
— CricBlog (@cric_blog) November 19, 2017
Rangana Herath scores valuable 67 runs for Sri Lanka. Invaluable in the context of the match.
— Desh Deepak Misra (@ddmisra) November 19, 2017
Rangana Herath (39y 242d) is oldest visiting player to appear in a Test in India since John Traicos (45y 300d) – the oldest ever – for Zimbabwe in 1993#INDvSL
— DON CRICKET (@doncrickt) November 18, 2017
Rangana Herath: (39y 242d)
– Oldest batsman to score fifty-plus runs in Tests played in India batting at No.8 or lower.
Prev. I Johnson (38 y 316d)#INDvSL
— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) November 19, 2017
Herath ended up scoring 67 runs off 105 balls including 9 boundaries. After a massive downfall in the first innings, Team India came back strong in the second. Openers KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan got their fifties and have scored more than 125 runs in the third session.
