Veteran Bangladesh batter Mushfiqur Rahim found himself breaking a few records as he smashed his 12th Test century in the opening game against Sri Lanka at Galle. Rahim constructed a record 264-run partnership for the fourth wicket with skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto, the highest by any visiting pair in Sri Lanka for the fourth wicket, as Bangladesh took control of Angelo Mathews' final Test after opting to bat first.
Currently unbeaten on 159 before the rain break, Rahim required 112 runs to achieve a unique yet historic record in international cricket. Rahim surpassed Adam Gilchrist's tally of scoring most runs by a batter across formats, without bowling a single delivery in international cricket. Rahim has 15,509 runs to his name as he went past the former Australian wicketkeeper-batter, Gilchrist, who famously retired from cricket after sending down a delivery in the IPL and took a wicket on the first and last ball he bowled in professional cricket.
Most runs in international cricket (players not to bowl a single delivery in any format)
15,509 - Mushfiqur Rahim (Bangladesh)
15,461 - Adam Gilchrist (Australia)
12,654 - Quinton de Kock (South Africa)
11,881 - Jos Buttler (England)
11,581 - Jonny Bairstow (England)
Bangladesh have already piled on 423 runs for the loss of four wickets after Asitha Fernando broke the marathon partnership. However, the poor forecast may dictate how Bangladesh play after the rain break as they will be looking to declare around a score of 500, which will be a very strong statement from the visitors after choosing to bat first.
Even though Mathews is yet to bat, Rahim also surpassed him on the all-time runs leaderboard with the Sri Lankan all-rounder having 15,499 runs to his name across formats.
With this being Mathews' final Test, Sri Lanka too would be keen to come back with a big score to provide the former captain with a winning farewell.
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