SRI LANKAN SPORTS
1 March, 1923
Birth of Duncan White, Sri Lanka's first Olympics medal winner:
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The victory podium of men’s 400 metres hurdles event during the Summer Olympics in London on 31 July 1948: (from left) Rune Larsson of Sweden (bronze medalist), Roy Cochran of the USA (gold), and Duncan White of Ceylon (silver) [/caption]
1 March 1953
Birth of Sri Lanka’s first Test Captain Bandula Warnapura:
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Bandula Warnapura (left) and Keith Fletcher come out to toss in Sri Lanka’s inaugural Test, against England at P. Sara Oval, Colombo on 17 February 1982[/caption]
1 March 1968
Birth of Sri Lanka’s youngest Test cricketer Sanjeeva Weerasinghe:
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Sanjeeva Weerasinghe played one Test at the age 17, for Sri Lanka in 1985 vs. India in Colombo. It was the first Test Sri Lanka won. He holds the record as the youngest to play for Sri Lanka in any form of international cricket, either Tests, ODIs, or T20Is[/caption]
INTERNATIONAL CRICKET
1 March 1958
Sobers strikes 365, shares 446 with Hunte, and helps WI amass 790/3:
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Sobers (left), 21 then, coming to bat with Clyde Walcott in the 1958 Test against Pakistan at Sabina Park[/caption]
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Sobers and Lara together in the WI dressing room on 18 April 1994 after the latter broke Sober's record of 365 runs, the highest individual score in a Test innings then, and still the fifth highest[/caption]
It was a record-breaking day for the 21-year-old Sobers who turned his maiden Test century into a stunning 365 not out at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica that day - beating by one run the previous highest score in Tests, Len Hutton’s 364 against Australia in 1938. It remained a Test record for 36 years until 1994, when Sobers was in Antigua to witness Brian Lara surpass it by 10 runs. In the 1958 Test, Sobers batted for 10 hours and 14 minutes, and added 446 for the second wicket with Conrad Hunte, who himself made 260. West Indies went on to have a total of 790/3, their highest total and the fourth-highest in the Test history. They won the match by an innings.
1 March 1980
Birth of cricketer Shahid Afridi, Pakistan’s “Boom Boom” all-rounder:
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Shahid Afridi shattered Sanath Jayasuriya’s world record for the fasted ODI century in 48 balls, set against Pakistan in April 1996. He was 16 years and played only his second ODI then.[/caption]
Afridi hit his century in 37 balls against Sri Lanka in Nairobi in October 1996, about six months after Jayasuriya set the world record. New Zealand’s Corey Anderson broke Afridi's record by hitting a ton in 36 balls in 2014, against West Indies. The next year AB de Villiers broke Anderson’s record by hitting a ton in 31 balls also against the Windies, which still stands as the record for the fasted ODI century.
The victory podium of men’s 400 metres hurdles event during the Summer Olympics in London on 31 July 1948: (from left) Rune Larsson of Sweden (bronze medalist), Roy Cochran of the USA (gold), and Duncan White of Ceylon (silver) [/caption]
1 March 1953
Birth of Sri Lanka’s first Test Captain Bandula Warnapura:
[caption id="attachment_122100" align="alignnone" width="492"] Bandula Warnapura (left) and Keith Fletcher come out to toss in Sri Lanka’s inaugural Test, against England at P. Sara Oval, Colombo on 17 February 1982[/caption]
1 March 1968
Birth of Sri Lanka’s youngest Test cricketer Sanjeeva Weerasinghe:
[caption id="attachment_122101" align="alignnone" width="369"] Sanjeeva Weerasinghe played one Test at the age 17, for Sri Lanka in 1985 vs. India in Colombo. It was the first Test Sri Lanka won. He holds the record as the youngest to play for Sri Lanka in any form of international cricket, either Tests, ODIs, or T20Is[/caption]
INTERNATIONAL CRICKET
1 March 1958
Sobers strikes 365, shares 446 with Hunte, and helps WI amass 790/3:
[caption id="attachment_122102" align="alignnone" width="621"] Sobers (left), 21 then, coming to bat with Clyde Walcott in the 1958 Test against Pakistan at Sabina Park[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_122103" align="alignnone" width="452"] Sobers and Lara together in the WI dressing room on 18 April 1994 after the latter broke Sober's record of 365 runs, the highest individual score in a Test innings then, and still the fifth highest[/caption]
It was a record-breaking day for the 21-year-old Sobers who turned his maiden Test century into a stunning 365 not out at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica that day - beating by one run the previous highest score in Tests, Len Hutton’s 364 against Australia in 1938. It remained a Test record for 36 years until 1994, when Sobers was in Antigua to witness Brian Lara surpass it by 10 runs. In the 1958 Test, Sobers batted for 10 hours and 14 minutes, and added 446 for the second wicket with Conrad Hunte, who himself made 260. West Indies went on to have a total of 790/3, their highest total and the fourth-highest in the Test history. They won the match by an innings.
1 March 1980
Birth of cricketer Shahid Afridi, Pakistan’s “Boom Boom” all-rounder:
[caption id="attachment_122104" align="alignnone" width="556"] Shahid Afridi shattered Sanath Jayasuriya’s world record for the fasted ODI century in 48 balls, set against Pakistan in April 1996. He was 16 years and played only his second ODI then.[/caption]
Afridi hit his century in 37 balls against Sri Lanka in Nairobi in October 1996, about six months after Jayasuriya set the world record. New Zealand’s Corey Anderson broke Afridi's record by hitting a ton in 36 balls in 2014, against West Indies. The next year AB de Villiers broke Anderson’s record by hitting a ton in 31 balls also against the Windies, which still stands as the record for the fasted ODI century.