CWC Qualifiers: Pathum Nissanka smokes his eighth ODI fifty
Sri Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka scored a fine fifty in this side's opener at the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers against the United Arab Emirates. The batting sensation ended up scoring 57 off 76 balls with the help of five boundaries. This was his second successive ODI fifty and overall eighth in the ODI format. Here we look at his stats.
A calculated knock from Nissanka
UAE won the toss and opted to bowl in Bulawayo. SL were off to a brilliant start as Nissanka and his opening partner Dimuth Karunaratne (52) added 95 runs for the opening wicket. While Karunaratne was the aggressor in the partnership, Nissanka took his time early on. The latter reached his fifty off 66 balls. He eventually fell prey to off-spinner Basil Hameed.
Nissanka races past 900 ODI runs
Nissanka, who made his ODI debut in March 2021, has now raced to 904 runs in the format in 27 games. While his average reads 34.76, he strikes at 82.03. The tally includes eight fifties and a solitary ton. Meanwhile, this was Nissanka's maiden ODI fifty versus the UAE. Notably, the 25-year-old has mustered 327 runs in seven ODIs this year at 46.71.
His run since 2022
Nissanka has gone from strength to strength as far as ODI cricket is concerned. Since the start of 2022, he has scored 818 runs in 18 games. No other SL batter has hammered even 600 ODI runs in this period. Nissanka's average of 48.11 is the seventh-highest among batters with at least 800 ODI runs since 2022.
