March 17: Sri Lanka won their first ever ICC title
On this day in 1996, Sri Lanka beat Australia by 7 wickets at Lahore and won the Wills World Cup. Australia batted first and scored 241 runs for a loss of seven wickets in their 50 overs. In reply to that, Sri Lanka chased down the target successfully and scored 245 runs for a loss of 3 wickets in 46.2 overs.
On this day in 1996, Sri Lankan legend Aravinda de Silva became the first Sri Lankan to score a century and take three wickets in the same ODI match. Aravinda de Silva has achieved this milestone in the Wills World Cup final against Australia. He took three wickets for 42 runs in nine overs. He took the wickets of Mark Taylor, Ricky Ponting, and Ian Healy, and most importantly, he broke the 101-run 2nd wicket partnership between Mark Taylor and Ricky Ponting.
The Australians set a target of 242 runs for Sri Lanka to chase, and Aravinda de Silva came out to bat at a score of 2 for 23. Eventually, Aravinda de Silva scored his third-ever hundred in a World Cup final and became the first Sri Lankan to score a hundred in a World Cup final. He made an unbeaten 107 and guided Sri Lanka to the first ever World Cup title.
On this day in 2023, Sri Lankan opening batter Nishan Madushka made his debut in Test matches. He played his maiden Test match against New Zealand in Wellington.
