Tillakaratne Dilshan is one of the greatest players to have played for Sri Lanka in the last 25 years. Dilshan is one of the most feared opening batters to have played international cricket. He has played 87 Test Matches for Sri Lanka and in those test matches he has scored 5492 runs at an average of 40.99. He has hit 16 Hundreds in Test Cricket. Tillakaratne Dilshan has also played 330 ODIs for Sri Lanka. He has made 10290 runs in ODI Cricket at an average of 39.27. He has hit 22 Hundreds for Sri Lanka in ODIs. In total he has hit 39 hundreds for Sri Lanka. He has also made 1889 runs in 80 T20I Matches that he has played for Sri Lanka. In total he has made over 17000 international runs for Sri Lanka.
Let’s look at the Top 5 Best Innings of Tilakaratne Dilshan
1) 162 and 143 vs Bangladesh (2009)
This is that type of test match that happens once or twice in the career of a batter. This is the test match where everything went right for Dilshan. He made big hundreds in both the test Matches. In the first innings he smashed a brilliant 162 from just 165 balls. He hit 21 fours and 2 sixes in this innings meaning 96 runs in boundaries. He was batting at a strike rate of 98 in a test innings. This was not the end for him in this match as in the second batting innings he once again hit 143 runs from 175 balls. He was batting at a strike rate of 82. He smashed 14 fours and 1 six meaning 62 runs in boundaries. Tillakaratne Dilshan hit 305 runs in this test match.
2) 193 vs England (2011)
This will remain one of the most special moments in the career of Tillakaratne Dilshan. He hit his highest international score at Lord’s . He made 193 runs against England from 253 balls. He hit 20 tours and 2 sixes in this innings meaning 92 runs were made in boundaries. He ran for 101 runs and still had a strike rate of 76. Dilshan was 8 runs away from his double hundred but was out. This will remain one of his best ever innings in international cricket.
3) 163* vs Zimbabwe (1999)
The first Test hundred by Dilshan was in 1999 and it was against the best Zimbabwe team. Sri Lanka was batting in the second innings of this test match. He was not out as he played 343 balls in this innings. He hit 18 fours in this innings meaning 72 runs in boundaries. He had a strike rate of 47 and the fact that no bowler was able to dismiss him was a testament to his skills. Sri Lanka won this match by 6 wickets. The cricketing world had found its newest superstar.
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4) 137* vs Pakistan (2009)
This was the last tour to Pakistan by an international team for a decade. In this ODI Match Tillakaratne Dilshan was in his element as no Pakistani bowler was able to dismiss him. He opened the innings and he made a sublime 137 not out from 139 balls. He smashed 10 fours in this innings meaning only 40 runs were made in boundaries. He ran for 97 runs in an ODI Match yet he was striking at 98.56. This was the second ODI hundred in the career of Dilshan. Sri Lanka won this match by a whopping 234 runs.
5) 161* vs Bangladesh (2015)
This was an important match in the 2015 World Cup. In this match it was Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh. Sri Lanka were batting first and Tillakaratne Dilshan was at his very best in this match. He absolutely decimated the bowling and he hit an unbeaten 161 not out in this match from 146 balls. He was striking at 110 and he hit 22 fours in this match meaning 88 runs were in boundaries. Dilshan was an excellent runner between the wickets. Sri Lanka won this important match by 92 runs.
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