Sri Lanka’s Angelo Perera completes rare ‘double double’

The right-hander, who played four ODIs and two T20Is for Sri Lanka between 2013 and 2016, accomplished the notable feat at the famous Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo, captaining Nondescripts CC against SSC in the Super Eight stage of Sri Lanka’s first-class Premier League tournament Tier A.

Both of the 28-year-old’s double-hundreds were fast-scoring affairs, the first – 201 off 203 – coming at almost a run a ball, and the second only marginally slower, a 268-ball 231. The game was a high-scoring one across the board, with three other batsmen across both sides scoring centuries, and just 26 wickets falling across the four days as the match petered out to a draw. Perera’s side remain winless in the Super Eights, and currently sit second from bottom.

The SSC has a well-earned reputation as a batting paradise. It was there in 2006 that Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara added 624 for the third wicket against South Africa, which remains the record partnership for any wicket in first-class cricket.

But Perera’s ‘double double’ is still worth celebrating, with the only other person to match him having done so over 80 years ago, when Kent’s Arthur Fagg crossed 200 twice in a county game against Essex. His two towering knocks also came against a strong attack, featuring Test bowlers Dhammika Prasad and Sachithra Senanayake, and his second in particular was important to his side’s hopes, coming with them 44/3 in their second innings.