Two double centuries by one batsman in a match – Yes, this rare feat was achieved in Sri Lanka

Scoring a century in both innings of a Test match or a first-class game is considered a mighty feat. What will you call the feat of one batsman scoring a double century in both innings of a match? In First-Class cricket, this has happened only once and recently, in a Sri Lanka domestic game, one batsman achieved a rare ‘double double’. Angelo Perera, the right-hand batsman who played four ODIs and two Twenty20 Internationals for Sri Lanka from 2013 to 2016, recently created history by becoming only the second player in First Class cricket history to hit two double tons in the same match.

In the Sri Lanka domestic First Class game between Nondescripts and Sinhalese Sports Club at the P Sara Oval in Colombo, Perera blasted 201 off just 203 balls which included 20 fours and one six at a strike-rate of 99. His knock helped Nondescripts reach 444 with Pathum Nissanka scoring 95. For SSC, Sandun Weerakkody’s 189 and 89 from Sachithra Senanayake gave them a 36-run lead over Nondescripts.

In the second innings, Perera went one better and blasted 231 off 268 balls which included 20 fours and three sixes. Perera was given great support from Nissanka who hit 165 but Chaturanga de Silva became the third centurion for Nondescripts and they ended up on 579/6 as the match ended in a tame draw.

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Perera became the second player since Arthur Fagg to have hit two double centuries in the same game during Kent’s game against Sussex in 1938. Nondescripts are currently in seventh position while Sinhalese Sports Club is in second position.

In the history of Test cricket, there has been no instance of players scoring a double century in both innings. Doug Walters scored 242 but managed only 103 in the second innings for Australia against West Indies in Sydney in 1969. Sunil Gavaskar hit 124 in the first innings and followed it up 220 in the second against West Indies in Port of Spain in 1971. Lawrence Rowe smashed 214 and 100, remarkably in his debut against New Zealand in Kingston in 1972.

Graham Gooch was the first player to hit a triple century and a century in a Test when he smashed 333 and 123 in the Lord’s Test against India in 1990. Kumar Sangakkara achieved this feat for the second time when he hit 319 and 105 against Bangladesh in Chittagong in 2014. Brian Lara smashed 221 and 130 against Sri Lanka at the SSC in Colombo in 2001.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Angelo Perera hit 201 and 231 in both the innings. 
• Arthur Fagg became the first player to hit double tons in both innings in 1938.
• Only two players in the history of First Class cricket have achieved this feat.