Colombo, January 30 (ANI): Australian wicket-keeper batsman Josh Inglis made history on Thursday, hitting the fastest century by an Australian player on Test debut and the second-fastest by any batsman during the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle.
During the match, Inglis, having already played in 26 ODIs and 29 T20Is for Australia, came to bat at position five. He welcomed the spin bowlers with a four off his very first ball and did not look back after that.
Inglis scored his half-century in just 51 balls, with five fours. He reached his century in 90 balls, with ten fours and a six, becoming the fastest Australian to achieve this feat.
The record for the fastest Test century on debut is held by former Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan, who scored a century in 87 balls against Australia in 2013, beating West Indies' Dwayne Smith, who achieved the feat in 93 balls against South Africa in 2004, according to Wisden's record books.
Inglis scored 102 runs in 94 deliveries, hitting 10 fours and one six, with a strike rate of 108.51.
His strike rate of 108.51 is the highest among all debutants in Test cricket, surpassing Shikhar's strike rate of 107.47 he achieved in his 174-ball knock of 187 against Australia.
The match began with Australia winning the toss and opting to bat first. Australia's innings was kickstarted by a 92-run partnership between Usman Khawaja and Travis Head, who scored 57 runs in 40 balls with 10 fours and a six. The milestone of 10,000 Test runs was achieved by Steve Smith, becoming the fourth Australian to accomplish this feat. Centuries from Khawaja and Smith brought Australia's day one score to 330/2.
On the following day, the suffering of the Australian batsmen continued unrelenting for Sri Lanka. The three members of the Sri Lankan spin bowling team, namely Prabath Jayasuriya (yielding 3 wickets for 193), Jeffrey Vandersay (3 wickets for 182) and Nishan Peiris (with no wickets for 189), seemed beyond redemption. Smith fell to Vandersay (scoring 141 runs off 251 balls with 12 fours and 2 sixes) after Australia's team total crossed the 400-run threshold. Khawaja brought his century to a maiden double ton, scoring 232 runs off 352 balls with 16 fours and a six. On his Test debut, Josh Inglis achieved a 102 in 94 deliveries with 10 fours and a six, taking Australia's total beyond the 600-run mark.
Contributions from Alex Carey (46 runs), Beau Webster (23 runs), and Mitchell Starc (19 not out) helped Australia reach 654 for 6 declared, their highest-ever score in Asia, surpassing the 617 runs they had scored against Pakistan in Faisalabad in 1980.
In their initial batting efforts, Sri Lanka suffered significant early losses, and by the end of the day they were at 44/3, with Kamindu Mendis (13*) and Dinesh Chandimal (9*) remaining unbeaten. (ANI)
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