Former Australian wicket keeper and batting star Adam Gilchrist acknowledged the Sri Lankan wicket keeper batsman Kumara Sangakkara’s record breaking One Day International (ODI) cricket feats by saying to be unique and magnanimous. He also said his innings to be just like a piece from the chunks of diamond sets. On Wednesday, the Sri Lanka legend became the first batsman in World Cricket History to record as many as four consecutive hundreds in One Day International (ODI) format of cricket with a 124 run haul against the minnows Scotland in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2K15 match in Hobart.
Later during the Scotland’s chasing part, Kumara Sangakkara became the first cricketer to bring into effect 500 One Day International dismissals by being the wicket keeper of the Sri Lankan cricket team. He even surpassed Australia’s ex wicket keeper cum batsman Adam Gilchrist’s record of 52 World Cup dismissals. After Sangakkara’s landmarks, the Aussie southpaw congratulated the World Cup’s top scorer in a significant way.
The 37 year old Kumara Sangakkara, who has announced his retirement from all forms of International Cricket a few days back, also became the first batsman to score four centuries in a World Cup and ODI tournament. Sangakkara smashed a maximum of 124 runs against Scotland in Hobart following his earlier centurion scores of 105 runs being not out against Bangladesh, a beautiful knock of 117 runs and remained not out against England and also scored 104 runs against Australia.
By the end of the match, he had taken 41 catches and made 13 stumpings in World Cups. Gilchrist had 45 catches and seven stumpings in 31 World Cup matches (Sangakkara was playing his 36th). Left-hander Sangakkara is also the leading run scorer in the ongoing mega event with 496 runs in just six games with a staggering average of 124.
This ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup of 2K15 will however be the last One Day International competition for the Sri Lankan southpaw Kumara Sangakkara.