As the year 2023 comes to an end, We at ThePapare.com have taken a look back at what has been an exciting year for International Cricket.
Let’s first have a look at the record books and see how well Sri Lanka performed throughout the year and the key performers of the island’s journey in the last 12 months.
Sri Lanka has played 44 international games across formats in the year 2023. They managed to win 19 out of them, lost 24 of them and Tied 1 game, recording a winning percentage of 44.31.
Sri Lanka maintained a winning percentage of around 47% in the year 2022, and they have managed to keep up with a similar number this year, which is satisfactory compared to the numbers they recorded in previous years. Let’s get to the breakdowns regarding formats and the key performers for the island nation.
Sri Lanka played 6 Test matches in 2023. They played 2 home series against Pakistan and Ireland and 1 away series in New Zealand. The Lankans won 2 Tests while losing 4 matches in 2023.
Sri Lanka’s standout Test batter of the year was Dimuth Karunaratne, who aggregated 608 runs in 6 matches at an average of 60.80. The left-hander ends the year as the 9th highest scorer in the world. He hit 2 centuries and 3 half-centuries in 10 innings he batted throughout the year.
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Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva also stood out with the bat, scoring 586 runs and 486 runs in 6 matches to grab 2nd and 3rd place, respectively, for Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka’s premier Test spinner, Prabath Jayasuriya, is the highest wicket-taker for the islanders in 2023 as he managed to scalp 30 wickets in 6 matches at 32.96. Jayasuriya was the top wicket-taker for Sri Lanka in Tests last year as well, where he claimed 29 wickets in just 3 matches.
Jayasuriya finished the year 2023 as the 7th highest wicket-taker in the world. Not surprisingly, Jayasuriya’s spin partner Ramesh Mendis was Sri Lanka’s second-highest wicket-taker in Tests in 2023 with 17 wickets in 4 matches.
Now, let’s move towards the ODI format. It was a satisfying year for Sri Lanka in the 50-over format compared to the other two forms as they managed to win 16 matches out of 31 played despite completing a disastrous World Cup campaign where they ended as the 9th ranked team in the 10-team event.
Sri Lanka has emerged as the runner-up of the Asia Cup held in Sri Lanka and Pakistan this year. They displayed impressive performances in the preliminary round and Super 4 stage, winning 4 games out of 5 before losing to India in the final in a disastrous manner. They were bowled out for just 50 runs.
Sri Lanka’s opening batter, Pathum Nissanka, dominated the ODI batting charts for Sri Lanka in 2023. He accumulated 1151 runs in 29 matches at 44.26 with 2 centuries and 9 half-centuries. He was the fifth-highest run-getter in ODIs in the world. Nissanka was Sri Lanka’s highest run-scorer in ODIs in last year as well.
Sri Lankan ODI skipper Kusal Mendis was placed 2nd among the top run-getters for Sri Lanka in ODIs with 893 runs in 31 matches at 33.07. Sri Lanka’s latest addition to the ODI setup – Sadeera Samarawickrama also had a fruitful year with the bat as he aggregated 850 runs in 25 matches at 44.73.
On the bowling front, Sri Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana stood above the rest to top the list with 37 wickets in 23 matches at 24.94. Sri Lanka’s rising star with the ball – Dilshan Madushanka grabbed the 2nd place, scalping 31 wickets in 15 matches at 24.06. Sri Lanka’s premier spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, who missed out on the ICC ODI World Cup due to an injury, was among the top wicket-takers with 28 wickets in 14 matches at 20.39.
In the shortest format – T20Is, Sri Lanka played just 7 matches, all of which were away encounters. They had only one win out of these 7 games, which came against India.
Since Sri Lanka only played a handful of T20I matches this year, there is nothing much to speak of. Kusal Mendis was their top run-getter in the shortest format of the game, as he amassed 211 runs in 6 matches at 35.16 with a strike rate of 158.64.
Charith Asalanka hit 162 runs in 6 games at 27.00 with a strike rate of 142, while Dasun Shanaka made 147 runs in 6 games at 29.40 with a strike rate of 172.94. Dasun Shanaka’s match-winning knock against India stood out above the rest for Sri Lanka in 2023.
He smashed 56 runs off 22 balls with 2 fours and 6 sixes at a strike rate of 254.54 to guide Sri Lanka to the only win in this format in 2023. Shanaka who registered his half-century in just 20 balls, entered record books as the fastest Sri Lankan to reach fifty in T20Is.
The young quick Dilshan Madushanka leads the bowling chart for Sri Lanka in T20Is with 6 wickets in 5 games, followed by spin maestro Wanindu Hasaranga and seamer Kasun Raitha with 5 and 4 wickets respectively.
International Cricket
The pinnacle championship of the sport of cricket – the ICC Cricket World Cup, was held this year, with Australia crowned as champions for the 6th time. After losing the first two games, Australia went on to win the remaining 7 games on the trot in the first round to book their place in the semi-finals.
Australia beat South Africa by 3 wickets in the second semi-final encounter to secure a spot in the final. Breaking the hearts of over 1.4 billion Indians, Australia managed to register a 6-wicket win against India in the final in front of a stunned 130,000 home fans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad to lift the World Cup trophy for the 6th time.
Australian opening batter Travis Head who stroked match-winning 137 runs off 120 balls with 15 fours and 4 sixes won the player of the final award.
Indian batter Virat Kohli collected the player of the tournament award for his outstanding consistency with the bat throughout the tournament. Kohli topped the batting chart aggregating 765 runs in 11 matches at 95.62 with 3 centuries and 6 half-centuries.
Meanwhile, India managed to lift the Asia Cup for a record-extending 8th time after beating Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in the final worked-off at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Indian seamer Mohammed Siraj who picked up 6 wickets for 21 runs, won the player of the final award. Indian chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav who scalped 9 wickets in 5 games at 11.44 won the player of the tournament award.
