Rishabh Pant scripted Test cricket history on Day 4 of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle. As he became the first Indian batter to hit 100 sixes in the longest format. The wicketkeeper batsman reached the milestone during an attacking second-innings as he brought up his half-century with a six off Lahiru Kumara. The DC player reached the landmark in his 51st Test, becoming the fastest player to 100 Test sixes by both matches and innings. He achieved it in his 89th innings, surpassing Adam Gilchrist’s previous record of 130 innings.
The milestone was another reflection of Pant’s fearless approach to Test batting. He entered the match with 97 sixes and moved past Chris Gayle’s tally of 98 before completing his century of sixes against Sri Lanka. The 28-year-old is now only the fourth batter in Test history to reach 100 sixes, he has now joined Ben Stokes, Brendon McCullum and Gilchrist. Stokes remains the leading six-hitter with 138, followed by McCullum on 107, while Pant has equalled level with Gilchrist. His feat came during a rapid 66 off 69 balls, featuring eight fours and two sixes. With India already holding a substantial advantage in Galle, the attacking innings added another memorable chapter to Pant’s Test career.
India bowled out for, daunting target of 372 for Sri Lanka in first Test in Galle
Team India was bowled out for just 193 runs on the 4th Day of the Test game between India and Sri Lanka. The last seven wickets fell for only 129 runs. Even though India could not capitalise in the second innings, they were able to provide a big target to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka was left with a daunting target of 372 runs. Even after getting bowled out for less than 200 runs, India has been in an advantage because of their 178 runs lead in the first innings. Rishabh Pant made an aggressive score of 66 runs off 69 balls, which included eight fours and two sixes, whereas Devdutt Padikkal made an even 44 runs off 75 balls despite his first innings 167 runs.
India's lower order struggled to defend Sri Lanka's bowlers. Asitha Fernando took 4 wickets for 31 runs in 8.5 overs. He was comfortably the best bowler of the day. Prabath Jayasuriya supported Fernando by taking 3 wickets for 43 runs. Lahiru Kumara and Keshara Nuwantha helped finish the wickets with 2 and 1 respectively. India's first innings score meant Sri Lanka had the daunting task of chasing the highest 4th innings score at Galle. Sri Lanka had taken a cautious approach and got to 9/0. They still needed to get 363 runs to win which meant India were still heavily favored. Despite a completely disintegrated batting order in the second inning, India were still the favorites to win.
