Who is Rathnayake? Sri Lankan tailender who broke 71-year-old record

Milan Rathnayake's 72-run debut consisting of six boundaries and two sixes made him Sri Lanka's second-highest run-getter on day 1 of the first England vs Srilanka Test series

Sri Lanka’s top order crumbled under a fierce English bowling attack on day 1 of the first Test in Manchester. But amid the disappointments, one of its debutants Milan Rathnayake emerged as the unexpected hero.

Coming in at number nine with Sri Lanka reeling at 176/8, Rathnayake faced a daunting challenge. Despite the less-than-ideal conditions, he delivered a stellar performance, smashing a record-breaking knock of 72 runs. His resilience took Sri Lanka to a respectable total of 236 runs by the end of day 1.

 

Milan Rathnayake’s 72 runs broke the long-standing record set by one of India’s 1983 World Cup stars Balwinder Sandhu back in 1983. Balwinder had scored 71 runs coming in at number 9 on his debut against arch-rival Pakistan.

Milan’s 72 consisted of six boundaries and two sixes which made the knock much more special for him and the spectators at Old Trafford. Sri Lanka managed to post 236 on day 1 and will be looking to recover well in the 2nd innings with England’s score at 22 for no loss after day 1.

Milan turned out to be the team’s second-highest run-getter in the innings as Dhananjaya de Silva’s 84-ball 74 was supported by the tail-ender in the end to take Sri Lanka to a respectable total on the first day.

For England, Chris Woakes and Shoaib Bashir led the bowling line-up, taking three wickets each on day 1. Gus Atkinson got himself two scalps while Mark Wood had to be content with just one wicket in the 1st innings.

Milan Rathnayake Career Statistics

Rathnayake has some domestic cricket experience in his bag with the right arm medium fast bowler picking up 81 first class wickets in 40 matches. He also has 24 wickets in 22 T20 matches to his name.

Milan Rathnayake Bowling Stats
Format	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10w
First Class	40	68	4391	2599	81	5/36	8/80	32.08	3.55	54.2	3	1	0
List A	45	44	1541	1300	47	4/31	4/31	27.65	5.06	32.7	3	0	0
T20s	22	22	375	429	24	06/12/24	06/12/24	17.87	6.86	15.6	0	1	0

His batting display, however, came out of the blue, with the 28-year-old's previous highest score in first-class cricket being 59 runs. Rathnayake himself would be proud of his debut performance, which showed his resilience with the bat.
 

Milan Rathnayake batting and fielding stats
Format	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100s	50s	4s	6s	Ct	St
FC	40	52	11	660	59	16.09	1370	48.17	0	2	63	11	21	0
List A	45	26	5	111	24*	5.28	259	42.85	0	0	6	1	11	0
T20s	22	10	5	52	16	10.4	50	104	0	0	2	2	8	0