Australian wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis made history on Thursday, slamming the fastest century by an Australian on Test debut and overall second-fastest during the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle. During the match, Inglis, already having featured in 26 ODIs and 29 T20Is for Australia, came to bat at number five. He greeted the spin bowlers with a four on his very first ball and did not look back from then on. Inglis reached his half-century in just 51 balls, with five fours. He reached his century in 90 balls, with 10 fours and a six, becoming the fastest Australian to do so.
The record for the fastest Test century on debut stands with former Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan, who scored an 87-ball century against Australia back in 2013, outdoing West Indies’ Dwayne Smith’s 93-ball ton against South Africa in 2004, as per Wisden.
Inglis made 102 in 94 balls, with 10 fours and a six, with his runs coming at a strike rate of 108.51.
His strike rate of 108.51 is also the highest among all debutants in Tests, outdoing Shikhar’s strike rate of 107.47 during his 174-ball 187 against Australia.
Coming to the match, Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. A 92-run partnership between Usman Khawaja and Travis Head (57 in 40 balls, with 10 fours and a six) kickstarted things off for Australia. Steve Smith became the fourth Australian to touch the 10,000 mark in Tests and centuries from him and Khawaja marked Australia’s day one end at 330/2.
On the next day, misery and runs from Australian batters continued to pile up for Sri Lanka and the spin bowling trio of Prabath Jayasuriya (3/193), Jeffrey Vandersay (3/182) and Nishan Peiris (0/189) looked hopeless beyond repair. Smith fell to Vandersay (141 in 251 balls, with 12 fours and two sixes) after the team crossed the 400-run mark while Khawaja converted his century to a maiden double ton, making 232 in 352 balls, with 16 fours and a six. Josh Inglis on his Test debut, also slammed a 94-ball 102 with 10 fours and a six, taking Australia beyond the 600-run mark.
Contributions from Alex Carey (46*), Beau Webster (23) and Mitchell Starc (19*) helped Australia reach 654/6 declared, their highest-ever score in Asia, outdoing the 617 runs scored against Pakistan in Faisalabad in 1980.
In their first innings, Sri Lanka lost their top order early and ended their day at 44/3, with Kamindu Mendis (13*) and Dinesh Chandimal (9*) unbeaten.
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