29th July, a date that would be etched in the Lankan hearts as Sri Lanka won their first bilateral series against India since 2008 but 15 years ago a history bigger in magnitude was achieved by not just two of the greatest Sri Lankan batsmen but also two extraordinary batsmen and skippers of their national side.
Sri Lanka's hard work pays off against a weakened Indian side!
Chamika Karunaratne and Wanindu Hasaranga may be the Lankan stars for yesterday's game or the entire T20 series but what Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara did on the same day in 2006 was out of the world.
The duo batted with each other throughout the 15 years of their career and most of the time managed to keep Sri Lanka out of danger. Sangakkara and Jayawardene scored 13,368 runs together in international cricket, the highest from any duo in the sport.
This also shows how they were always a reliable force that gave everything for their nation. Today we talk about one of their many spectacular partnerships but this one stands out as the heights it reached, we may never see the record being broken ever again.
Let's reminisce about that day and have a look at all the records broken in that very test match.
It was the first Test between Sri Lanka and South Africa, the former being the hosts. The game was played at the R. Premadasa Stadium just like the latest ODI and T20 series.
The visitors were batting first and their innings concluded with just 169 runs on the board. A young AB De Villiers, who was far away from reaching his status as one of the greatest batsmen in all formats of the game. De Villiers was his side's top scorer, scoring 65 runs. Sri Lanka did not have the best of starts either as they were 2/14 when both Upul Tharanga and Sanath Jayasuriya got out and Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene had to take over.
#576
The duo broke the record that was held by another Sri Lankan pair, Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama, who scored 576 runs together against India in 1997, the same match that was Mahela Jayawardene's debut Test match. Destiny's game, isn't it?
#374
Mahela Jayawardene scored 374 runs before he got out to Andre Nel's bowl that went low. This score is the fourth highest in Test Cricket and the second-highest by a captain. (Brian Lara 400* and 375, Matthew Hayden 380). Another record that got attached to this score was that he became the highest-scorer to have been dismissed 'bowled'.
#2
Jayawardene and Sangakkara became only the second pair to score 250 runs each in an innings, the first being Garry Sobers and Conrad Hunte in the year 1957-58.
#287
Kumar Sangakkara's 287 became the highest score for a batsman without being the top scorer for his side in that innings. The score also became the highest score scored by a player without winning the man of the match award.
#624
The partnership became the highest for any wicket in not just Test matches but also the first-class cricket, breaking the record of their nation's duo in Test cricket and 594* of Maharashtra players Swapnil Gugale and Ankit Bawne in the year 2016.
#756
Sri Lanka declared for 5/756 which became the highest score scored by a team after both the openers were dismissed for a single-digit score.
#7
No no, it's nothing about MS Dhoni, seven was Sangakkara's score when Kumar Sangakkara was awarded one but two lifelines, a catch dropped at gully being the first, whereas he got bowled cleanly in the second but the umpires later revealed that Dale Steyn had overstepped.
Look out for Dale Steyn's comments! Follow Cricwizz on Instagram for memes and regular updates!
Some luck!
#157
The duo batted for three days and the over count was 157, the most by a duo. The second-best in this list is Herschelle Gibbs and Jacques Rudolph, who debuted as they batted for 123.2 overs against Bangladesh in 2003.
#587
This was Sri Lanka's lead towards the end of the first innings, the most in test cricket history. The first time it happened was three years ago and this time the Proteas had a great time scoring a mammoth total of 682/6 against England.
#157 2.0
South Africa batted in the second innings for a total of 157.2 overs, just two balls more than the legendary partnership of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.
Out of these records, which one was your favorite? Let us know! Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. We bet you won't be disappointed. Stay tuned for more.
