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Sangakkara fastest to 12,000 Test runs

Sri Lanka legends beats modern greats Tendulkar, Ponting to the milestone

With a tuck off the hip off to deep backward square leg, Sri Lanka star Kumar Sangakkara has become the fastest player to reach 12,000 runs in Test cricket, reaching the milestone in 224 innings.

Sangakkara beat legends Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting to the landmark by 23 Test innings, joining batting greats Tendulkar, Ponting, Jacques Kallis, and Rahul Dravid in the exclusive club.

Sangakkara scored the five runs he was searching for on day one of the second Test against New Zealand, avoiding the carnage on a green seamer in Wellington that saw 15 wickets fall on the opening day’s play.

The 37-year-old averages more than 58 in 130 Tests with a phenomenal 37 Test centuries, the biggest of which was a 319-run knock against Bangladesh in Chittagong in February 2014.

Sangakkara was the leading run-scorer in Tests in 2014, collecting 1,493 runs in 12 matches at an average of 71.09 with four tons.

If those numbers aren’t impressive enough, when the left-hander has played without the added burden of wicket-keeping, his numbers are second only to Bradman. 

In 82 Tests playing as a specialist batsman, Sangakkara has scored more than 8,800 runs with 30 centuries at an average nudging 70.

He’s also scored at least 150 against all Test playing nations since debuting against South Africa in Galle in 2000.

The looming ICC Cricket World Cup will be his one-day international swansong alongside long-time teammate Mahela Jayawardene, and he is yet to commit to his Test future.