Dimuth Karunaratne celebrates his century yesterday (29)[/caption]
Dimuth Karunaratne became the 10th Sri Lanka batsman to score 5,000 runs in Test cricket and the fourth fastest to do so in terms of matches played yesterday (29) in the Pallekele second Test.
Take a look at the exclusive group he has joined.
Dimuth Karunaratne
5,000* runs at 37.88
5,000th run in his 72nd Test and 138th innings
The newest member in Sri Lanka’s 5,000 Test-run club, Karunaratne crossed the milestone in Sri Lanka’s first innings of the second match against Bangladesh.
Arjuna Ranatunga
5,105 runs at 35.69
5,000th run in his 92nd Test and 153rd innings
One of the nation’s most iconic players, an 18-year-old Ranatunga made his debut in Sri Lanka’s first-ever Test in 1982. He notched Sri Lanka’s first Test half-century in that match. More than 18 years later he raised his 5000th run for the country in Test cricket in his penultimate match for Sri Lanka.
Thilan Samaraweera
5,462 runs at 48.76
5,000th run in 71st Test and 114th innings
Solid as a rock, Samaraweera was the glue in a Sri Lankan batting order boasting some of the most stylish players in the game, while still having plenty of glorious strokes in his own arsenal. A century-maker on debut against India, Samaraweera went on to hit 14 hundreds in the format, with a high score of 231.
Tillakaratne Dilshan
5,492 runs at 40.98
5,000th runs in his 81st Test and 132nd innings
A middle-order batter when he was first picked in the team, Dilshan looked the part early in his career, scoring an impressive 163 in just his second match. But it was not until he was promoted to the top of the order that Dilshan’s career really took off. He averaged 44.29 across his 53 innings opening the batting and allowed Sri Lanka to put opposition attacks under pressure from ball one. All that and he was an exceptional fielder and more than handy bowler too.
Marvan Atapattu
5,502 runs at 39.02
5,000th run in his 80th Test and 138th innings
One half of Sri Lanka’s most fruitful opening pair, Atapattu was the ice to Sanath Jayasuriya’s fire, wearing opposition attacks down from one end while his partner flayed them from the other. The old-school opener was one of cricket’s great converters, turning 16 of his 33 50+ scores into hundreds, and six of those 16 centuries into doubles.
Angelo Mathews
6,219* runs at 45.39
5,000th run in his 75th Test and 133rd innings
Up until Karunaratne’s entry, Mathews was the most recent Sri Lankan to join the 5000 Test run club, getting there in mid-2018. As reliable a servant to the game as any who has ever represented the island nation, Mathews started his career as the complete all-rounder in 2008. While a run of injuries has stymied his bowling over the past few years, he remains a lock in Sri Lanka’s XI.
Aravinda de Silva
6,361 runs at 42.97
5,000th run in his 74th Test and 128th innings
The hero of Sri Lanka’s glorious victory in the 1996 World Cup final, de Silva was one of the gems of the country’s Test batting order for nearly two decades. With a technique that could stand up to the sternest of examinations, he scored 20 centuries and 22 fifties across his 93 Tests.
Sanath Jayasuriya
6,973 runs at 40.07
5,000th run in his 79th Test and 133rd innings
Before there was Steve Smith there was Sanath Jayasuriya – a player picked as a bowling all-rounder who would go on to become a batting great. One of the stars of the ‘96 World Cup, Jayasuriya took his Test cricket to the next level in the years that followed as Sri Lanka established themselves as a force to be reckoned with across formats.
Mahela Jayawardene
11,814 runs at 49.84
5,000th run in his 70th Test and 114th innings
A modern giant of the game, Jayawardene is Test cricket’s ninth-highest run-scorer and joint sixth-greatest century-maker, well and truly justifying the clamour that surrounded him when he debuted as a 19-year-old.
Kumar Sangakkara
12,400 runs at 57.40
5,000th run in his 64th Test and 106th innings.
A member of the ICC’s Test Team of the Decade, Sangakkara stands among cricket’s finest ever players with a case to be considered the best batsman of his generation.
* Still an active player