Pallekele International Cricket Stadium – Overview
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium is a cricket stadium which is located in pallekele, Kandy, srilanka. In July 2010, the Central Provincial Council in Kandy announced plans to rename the stadium to honor legendary Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan, but has yet to officially do so. The stadium opened on 27 November 2009 and became the 104th Test venue in the world in December 2010.
The Pallekele International Cricket Stadium is located at a distance of approximately half an hour’s drive east of Kandy. The stadium is wholly owned by Sri Lanka Cricket and has a capacity of 35,000 spectators.
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium – History
The Pallekele International Cricket Stadium was built for the 2011 Cricket World Cup along with the Hambantota Stadium. The first Test match at this stadium was played from 1 to 5 December 2010 between Sri Lanka and West Indies. The first One Day International match at the venue was played on 8 March 2011 between New Zealand and Pakistan. There is also Pallekele.
Host of Kandurta cricket team. On 21 September 2011, ICC announced that the Pallekele Stadium would host nine 2012 ICC World Twenty20 matches.
Also Read: Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium & History and features
Notable Events at stadium
Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga shared a 282-run partnership for the first wicket against Zimbabwe on 26 March 2011. In this stadium this is the highest partnership for the first wicket in a Cricket World Cup match.
Shaun Marsh and Mike Hussey put on 258 runs for the fourth wicket, the highest partnership for the fourth wicket in Sri Lanka vs Australia Test matches.
Tillakaratne Dilshan scored a Twenty20 International century against Australia, becoming the second Sri Lankan player to score centuries in all formats. This is the highest individual innings by a Sri Lankan in T20Is, and made Dilshan the first cricketer to score centuries in all formats as captain.
The highest individual Test score at the venue is 176 made by Kusal Mendis against Australia in 2016.
On 14 August 2017, India defeated Sri Lanka by an innings and 171 runs and with this, India whitewashed Sri Lanka for the first time in Tests.
On 6 September 2019, against New Zealand, Lasith Malinga took four wickets each in T20Is. It was his second four-for in the international format. He also took his 100th wicket in T20Is in the same match, in this stadium and becoming the first cricketer to take 100 wickets in all three formats.
How to reach Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
Kandy is the nearest airport to Pallekele Stadium. However, a better option is to visit the Stadium is by railways. Sri Lanka Railways operates a train every 4 hours from Fort Station to Kandy. Tickets cost ₹60 – ₹100 and the journey takes 2 hours 20 minutes.
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