Avishka Fernando takes his place in World Cup record books

Avishka Fernando (Image - ICC)

July 3 (CRICKETNMORE) - Avishka Fernando’s maiden one-day ton puts him third in the list of the youngest century-makers at an ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and he joins some exalted company.

Paul Stirling (20 years, 196 days) - 101 for Ireland v Netherlands at Kolkata, 2011

This was the conclusion of Ireland’s memorable 2011 campaign in which they produced an all-time Cricket World Cup record chase (329/7) to beat England in Bengaluru. Stirling, who made his Ireland debut at only 17, contributed a punchy 32 to that innings but had a moderate run subsequently until this furious assault on the Netherlands that yielded another exceptional pursuit. Ireland finished on 307/4 as they strolled to victory with 14 balls to spare. The pugnacious right-hander faced only 72 balls and put on 177 for the first wicket with captain Will Porterfield.

Ricky Ponting (21 years, 76 days) - 102 for Australia v West Indies at Jaipur, 1996

The first of Ponting’s five World Cup centuries broke the record set by Sachin Tendulkar only a fortnight earlier. Australia captain Mark Taylor chose to bat on a difficult pitch in his side’s last group match. Batting was hard – Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh bowled six maidens and conceded only eight runs in the first nine overs. Ponting’s century from 112 balls was part of a total of only 229/6 as West Indies recovered from their famous loss to Kenya to win by four wickets. Australia would beat them in the semi-final before going to lose the final to Sri Lanka.

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