Galle, Aug 18 (IANS) Rishabh Pant has etched his name into the history books as he has become the first-ever Indian cricketer to have hit 100 sixes in Test cricket. The star wicketkeeper-batter achieved the milestone during Day 4 of the first Test match between India and Sri Lanka at the Galle International Stadium on Tuesday.
Coming into the match, Pant had 97 sixes to his name and needed three to reach the elusive milestone. He had smashed one in the first innings when he hit 39 from 62 balls, an innings which had four fours as well. The Southpaw hit a couple of maximums in the second innings to reach the milestone. He smashed Lahiru Kumara for a maximum straight and out of the ground in the first session.
Pant had to wait for quite some time in the second session as he was tested by bouncers from Asitha Fernando and some good bowling from Keshara Nuwantha. He played smart to find regular boundaries before tonking a six off Lahiru Kumara over deep fine leg to get to his 100th six. The shot also brought up his fifty off 53 balls.
While Pant is the first Indian cricketer to hit 100 sixes in the longest international format, he is also just the fourth one to bring up a century of maximums. The list is led by recently retired Ben Stokes (138), with former England Test coach and New Zealand batter Brendon McCullum (107) in second. With his 100th six, Pant tied former Australia wicketkeeper-batter Adam Gilchrist, who was the first cricketer to hit 100 sixes, and he ended his career at exactly that number.
Pant made impressive shot selections in the innings. He regularly left the short balls targeted to trouble him as Lahiru and Asitha tested his patience. However, he was smart enough to avoid unnecessary risks and left several of those balls. Impressive off-spinner Keshara Nuwantha also stayed in attack for a long period as he had got him out in the first innings.
However, Pant did not go for big shots against the off-spinner and instead employed the reverse sweep to brilliant effect, hitting him for fours on several occasions. The 28-year-old remained key for India, who looked to put up a big second innings target for Sri Lanka after the visitors had lost Dhruv Jurel early in the second session for just seven runs.
India had a strong lead of 294 as they went to the break at 116/4. KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal provided a strong fight after Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed by Fernando in the first over of the second innings. For Sri Lanka, Nuwantha, Prabath Jayasuriya and Fernando were impressive. Fernando and Jayasuriya took two each, while Nuwantha scalped one wicket at the time of writing this piece.
–IANS
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