Poor Kumar Sangakkara. In two consecutive Tests, he has narrowly missed out on reaching a double-century, a landmark he has previously reached eight times. Last week he was cruelly left high and dry on 199 not out, something only Andy Flower had experienced in Test history. This week, at Colombo, he was dismissed to an airy-fairy shot for 192 when well set with no pressure given that the match was heading for a certain draw.
Let's face it, he's not so poor really. Aged 34, he has one of the highest career Test averages in history, at almost 57, with 30 hundreds to his name from 110 games, and an aggregate fast approaching the magic 10,000 runs. Yet this week we will consider his excellent innings to be 'failures'! With more and more Test series these days, double centuries have become more common, but Sri Lankans seem to be particularly associated with scores of 200+. Indeed, of the ten batsmen to have achieved the feat at least six times, three hail from the island: Sanga on eight, Mahela Jayawardene and Marvan Atapattu on six.
Unsurprisingly, the incomparable Sir Don Bradman heads the list on twelve (in only 52 Tests), followed by Brian Lara, the only man to hit the dizzy heights of a 'quadruple'. The elegant Kumar is third on the list with a personal best of 287, struck against South Africa at the SSC six years ago. Five of his 'doubles' were on home territory, one each at Bulawayo, Karachi and Abu Dhabi.
So are home pitches behind the record run-getters from Sri Lanka? In that innings when Sangakkara compiled 287, amazingly he was not the highest scorer. His partner, Mahela Jayawardene, slightly senior to Sanga, made an incredible 374 as his side racked up a first innings lead of - wait for it - 587 runs! And yes, they did win that game against the Proteas. For such a great player, his statistics would be somehwat less impressive if you exclude home matches. Four of his 'doubles' have been in Sri Lanka and all in the Asian subcontinent. In fact, his highest score outside Asia is a mere 141, in Napier, New Zealand.
Marvan Atapattu last played for Sri Lanka in 2007 after a 90-Test career. He usually played second-, or even third fiddle to the likes of Jayasuriya, Da Silva or Sangakkara. He was often the rock at the top of the innings while others flashed their blades and enjoyed a good conversion rate of single- to double-hundreds, progressing to 200 six times out of sixteen. Like his two compatriots, four were struck in Sri Lanka and the other two in Zimbabwe. Marvan's career was almost still-born. On his debut against India at Chandigarh, he bagged an embarrassing pair and didn't play again for two years. He then improved, scoring 0 and 1! He then played only one Test in the next five years. Hardly surprising given that in February 1994, he was again twice dismissed without scoring against India. Fortunately he was batting well in domestic cricket and after being given an extended run in 1997 he finally cracked it with 108 in Mohali. In total, his record includes 22 ducks, more than his century count. Of the other notable double-centurions, only Jayasuriya, Chris Gayle and Stephen Fleming can claim this unfortunate record.
While Atapattu has retired from first-class cricket, Sanga and Mahela roll on and, with more home Test series, they will surely add to their tally of 200s. If any man deserves the 'poor' tag this week, it's Mohammed Hafeez. Before Kumar went for 192, the Pakistani opener had been bowled on 196, missing the sweep which would have presented him with a very first double-century. Gutted!
