Ireland v Sri Lanka, 1st ODI - Statistical Highlights

Sri Lanka started off their ODI stint on the Europe tour with a win against Ireland after losing the Test series to England 2-0. After being put into bat, Sri Lanka posted 303/7 in 50 overs thanks to an unbeaten century from Dinesh Chandimal and contributions from captain Mathews and debutants Mendis and Shanaka. Ireland got off to a good start in their chase but Shanaka struck big with the ball as he picked first 3 wickets in his first spell. Due to rain, Ireland’s target got reduced to 293 in 47 overs. After the rain interval, Ireland scored quickly but were bowled out for 216 from 198/4. Captain Porterfield and Kevin O’Brien scored fifties. Here we look at all the stats and records recorded during the game.

1 – This is the first instance of Sri Lanka’s No.3. No.4, No.5 and No.6 scoring more than 40 runs in an ODI.

2 – Balls taken by Barry McCarthy to pick his first wicket in ODI cricket. Among Ireland players, only Kevin O’Brien picked wicket on the first ball in ODIs.

3 – Number of players who made their ODI debut for Sri Lanka in this game. This is the first time since 1983 that Sri Lanka had 3 or more debutants in an ODI. In Mar 1983, Sri Lanka played with 4 ODI debutants vs New Zealand.

4 – Balls taken by Dasun Shanaka to pick his first wicket in ODI cricket. He took 2 balls for his first T20I wicket and 7 balls for his first wicket in Tests.

5 – Dasun Shanaka became the 5th player to score 40 or more runs and pick 4 or more wickets on ODI debut. Among the 5, Shanaka is the only player to pick a 5-wicket haul.

5/43 – Dasun Shanaka’s bowling figures in this game. He became only the 3rd Sri Lankan and 12th player to pick a 5-wicket haul on debut.

8 – Upul Tharanga batted at No.8 in Sri Lanka’s 2nd innings. This is the 2nd time he has batted at No.8. The other occasion he batted at No.8 was in March 2015 vs Australia.

14 – Number of fifty plus scores Kevin O’Brien has recorded in ODI cricket. Among Ireland players, only William Porterfield (19) and Niel O’Brien (15) have more.

49 – Runs scored by Angelo Mathews in this game. He became only the 4th Sri Lankan captain to be dismissed on 49.

How did the match pan out? – Ire v SL 1st ODI Review: Shanaka and Chandimal shine in Lankan win

51 – Runs scored by Kusal Mendis in this game. He became only the 4th Sri Lankan to score a fifty on ODI debut.

91 – Innings played by Dinesh Chandimal between his two centuries in ODI cricket. Among Sri Lankans, only two players took more innings between their centuries.

221.05 – Dasun Shanaka’s batting strike rate in this match. This is the best strike rate for a player who scored 40 or more on ODI debut.

303/7 – Sri Lanka’s total of 303/7 is the 2nd highest total in ODIs in Ireland. This is only the 3rd instance where more than 275 runs have been scored in ODIs hosted by Ireland.

2014 – Man of the match award wasn’t presented for this game. Last time Man of the match award wasn’t presented in an ODI was on 4th December, 2014 during Afghanistan-UAE game. Since then 184 ODIs played before this game. In 179 games, Man of the match award was presented while the other 5 games were washed out without completion of the 1st innings.