Who is Sadeera Samarawickrama? All you need to know about Sri Lanka's wicketkeeper batter

Sri Lanka put on a batting masterclass during Match 08 of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 against Pakistan on Tuesday, October 10 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. After opting to bat first, Sri Lanka posted a massive score of 344/9 in their allotted 50 overs as Kusal Mendis (122 off 77) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (108 off 89) scored splendid hundreds.  

Notably, Samarawickrama scored his first ODI hundred in his 25^th game as he got involved in a 111-run partnership with Kusal Mendis. He clobbered 11 fours and two sixes during his knock as he took the onus upon himself to take the innings forward after the dismissal of Mendis in the 29^th over.

The 28-year-old made his international debut during a Test vs Pakistan in October 2017 and has since played eight Tests, nine T20Is and 25 ODIs for Sri Lanka.

Recently, Samarawickrama also excelled with the bat, slamming a half-century in Sri Lanka's Asia Cup Super Four match against Bangladesh on September 9 at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo. The 28-year-old fell short of a century but ended up scoring his then-career-best ODI score of 93 runs off 72 balls, which included eight boundaries and two maximums. This was his consecutive fifty against Bangladesh and fifth half-century overall in the 50-over format.

Samarawickrama took Sri Lanka to the Asia Cup 2023 final 

Samarawickrama, came to at number four while Sri Lanka were at 108 with the loss of two wickets. The youngster went berserk in the final 10 overs as the hosts scored 81 runs. However, he fell short against Taskin Ahmed in the last ball of the innings. Earlier in the year he played a brilliant knock of 82 off 115 against Ireland during the Cricket World Cup 2023 Qualifiers in Zimbabwe.

The right-handed batter has so far scored 746 runs from 25 ODIs at an average of 35.52  and a strike rate of 94.55 with one hundred and five fifties to his name. The Colombo-born batter is a promising young talent from Sri Lanka and will look to continue his good form in the ongoing World Cup.