World Cup 2019: Sri Lanka's Avishka Fernando becomes third youngest centurion in WC history

Avishka Fernando become the third youngest centurion in World Cup history when he scored his maiden ODI ton against Windies in the 2019 Cricket World Cup

Sri Lanka registered their highest team total of the 2019 ICC World Cup when they posted a mammoth 338-run total against West Indies at the Riverside Ground at the Chester-le-Street. The sub continent team could achieve this record score on the back of a superlative ton by their middle order batsman Avishka Fernando. Fernando broke a couple of records on his way to his maiden ODI ton. The elegant stroke-maker become the third youngest centurion in World Cup history. He also became the youngest World Cup ton maker for Sri Lanka at the showpiece event. The 21-year old Lankan player Avishka Fernando surpassed cricket legends like Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli to get to the feat. The youngest centurion in World Cup history is Paul Stirling.

Youngest centurions in World Cup history:

Paul Stirling – 20 years, 196 days Ricky Ponting – 21 years 76 days AVISHKA FERNANDO – 21 years 87 days 👏 Virat Kohli – 22 years 106 days Sachin Tendulkar – 22 years 300 days #LionsRoar | #SLvWI pic.twitter.com/tedI5feuqW — Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) July 1, 2019

At just 20 years and 196 days, Ireland’s Paul Stirling became the youngest century-maker at the Men’s World Cup with his ton against Netherlands in 2011. Stirling is the only man under the age of 21 to have scored a World Cup century. Australia's prolific run scorer Ricky Ponting is second on the list of youngest World Cup ton makers as he slammed his maiden WC ton at 21 years 76 days Batting first against the Windies, the Lankans got off to a solid start with their openers Kusal Perera and Dimuth Karunaratne before Jason Holder send his counterpart Dimuth Karunaratne back to the pavilion. Once, Karunaratne departed, Fernando showed some exquisite strokeplay to rebuild the Lankan innings and notched up a fine ton to help his team  post a challenging 339-run target.