Avishka Fernando

Weerahandige Inol Avishka Fernando (born 5 April 1998), commonly as Avishka Fernando, is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer, who currently plays limited over internationals for Sri Lanka national team. He plays for Colts Cricket Club in domestic cricket, and he made his international debut for the Sri Lanka cricket team in August 2016. He had his education in St. Sebastian's College, Moratuwa.

Not to be confused with Asitha Fernando.
Avishka Fernando
අවිශ්ක ප්‍රනාන්දු
Personal information
Full nameWeerahandige Inol Avishka Fernando
Born (1998-04-05) 5 April 1998
Wadduwa, Sri Lanka
NicknameAva
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium fast
RoleOpening batsman
International information
National side
ODI debut (cap 175)31 August 2016 v Australia
Last ODI1 March 2020 v West Indies
T20I debut (cap 79)19 March 2019 v South Africa
Last T20I6 March 2020 v West Indies
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2018–presentColts Cricket Club
2019–presentChittagong Vikings
2020Jaffna Stallions
Career statistics
Competition ODI T20I
Matches 18 15
Runs scored 653 195
Batting average 36.27 13.92
100s/50s 2/3 0/0
Top score 127 37
Catches/stumpings 6/– 4/–
Source: Cricinfo, 14 December 2020

Youth and domestic career

Avishka Fernando has the record for scoring the most runs in Youth ODI history for Sri Lanka (1379 runs)[1] He too has the record for scoring the most centuries for Sri Lanka in Youth ODI history(4).[2]

He was also the part of the Sri Lankan team which won the ACC Emerging teams asia cup 2017 by defeating Pakistan by 5 wickets.[3]

He made his Twenty20 debut for Colts Cricket Club in the 2017–18 SLC Twenty20 Tournament on 24 February 2018.[4]

In April 2018, he was named in Kandy's squad for the 2018 Super Provincial One Day Tournament.[5] In August 2018, he was named in Colombo's squad the 2018 SLC T20 League.[6] In March 2019, he was named in Colombo's squad for the 2019 Super Provincial One Day Tournament.[7] In November 2019, he was selected to play for the Chattogram Challengers in the 2019–20 Bangladesh Premier League.[8]

He hit 95 from 96 balls in Sri Lanka's victory over England in the quarter-final of the 2016 Under-19 World Cup, and later in the year would hit two consecutive hundreds against the same opposition, this time in a bilateral series in England.[9] Sri Lanka U-19s whitewashed England U-19s for the first time in England as well. In October 2020, he was drafted by the Jaffna Stallions for the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League.[10]

International career

As an 18-year-old, he has been picked in Sri Lankan ODI squad for their home series against Australia.[11] He earned his first call-up to the national ODI team without having played any T20 or List A or first-class cricket. He made his One Day International debut for Sri Lanka against Australia on 31 August 2016 at Dambulla. He was dismissed for a duck after facing two balls from Mitchell Starc.[12]

In December 2018, he was named in Sri Lanka team for the 2018 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup.[13] He made his Twenty20 International debut for Sri Lanka against South Africa on 19 March 2019.[14]

In April 2019, he was named in Sri Lanka's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.[15][16] He played as the opening partner for skipper Dimuth Karunaratne in ODI series against Scotland prior to the World Cup. In the second ODI, he scored his maiden ODI fifty. Sri Lanka won the match by 35 runs in DLS method.[17]

In his first World Cup appearance, he scored 49 runs against England. His stroke play against England pacer Jofra Archer with 24 off 15 balls was described by former Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara as, "He's got timing, this boy!" on TV commentary. Sri Lanka won the match by 20 runs to continue fourth consecutive World Cup win over England.[18] On 1 July 2019, in the match against the West Indies, he scored his first century in ODIs, becoming the 27th Sri Lankan to score a century.[19] Sri Lanka won the match by 20 runs and Fernando won his first man of the match award. Following the World Cup, the International Cricket Council (ICC) named Fernando as the rising star of the squad.[20]

During second ODI against Bangladesh, he scored a match-winning knock 82 off 75 balls to win the match by 7 wickets. With that match, Sri Lanka won the series 2-0 which was recorded as their first win after 44 months in home soil. Fernando won man of the match award for his batting performance.[21]

He was named in Sri Lanka's squad for tour of Pakistan in September, 2019.[22] He scored only 4 runs in the two matches against Pakistan where Sri Lanka lost the series 2-0.

On 25 February 2020 against West Indies, Fernando scored his second ODI century. He along with Kusal Mendis put a 239-run partnership for the third wicket. This is the highest third wicket partnership for Sri Lanka in ODIs. Fernando scored 127 runs and Mendis scored 119 runs to post a imposing total of 345, which is recorded as the highest ODI total without hitting a six.[23] West Indies collapse in the chase and Sri Lanka won the match by 161 runs.[24] This is the biggest win in terms of runs against Windies by Sri Lanka in ODIs as well. With this win, Sri Lanka won the series 2-0 to give them an unassailable lead in the series. Fernando won the man of the match award for match winning batting performance.[25]

References
  1. "Cricket Records | Records | Sri Lanka Under-19s | Under-19s Youth One-Day Internationals | Most runs | ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
  2. "Cricket Records | Records | Sri Lanka Under-19s | Under-19s Youth One-Day Internationals | Most hundreds | ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
  3. "Sri Lanka Under-23 Squad". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  4. "Group B, SLC Twenty-20 Tournament at Panagoda, Feb 24 2018". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  5. "SLC Super Provincial 50 over tournament squads and fixtures". The Papare. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  6. "SLC T20 League 2018 squads finalized". The Papare. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  7. "Squads, Fixtures announced for SLC Provincial 50 Overs Tournament". The Papare. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  8. "BPL draft: Tamim Iqbal to team up with coach Mohammad Salahuddin for Dhaka". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  9. "SL U-19 versus England U19". 16 August 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  10. "Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Shahid Afridi among big names taken at LPL draft". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  11. Andrew Fernando (19 August 2016). "18-year-old Avishka Fernando in Sri Lanka ODI squad". Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  12. "Australia tour of Sri Lanka, 4th ODI: Sri Lanka v Australia at Dambulla, Aug 31, 2016". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  13. "Sri Lanka Squad for the ACC Emerging Teams Cup 2018". Sri Lanka Cricket. Archived from the original on 3 December 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  14. "1st T20I (N), Sri Lanka tour of South Africa at Cape Town, Mar 19 2019". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  15. "Thirimanne, Siriwardana, Vandersay picked in World Cup squad". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  16. "Jeevan Mendis, Siriwardana, Vandersay make comebacks in Sri Lanka World Cup squad". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  17. "Pradeep leads the way as Sri Lanka break win-less streak". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  18. "Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews star as Sri Lanka stun England". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  19. "Fernando strikes maiden ODI ton as Sri Lanka set West Indies testing target". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  20. "CWC19 report card: Sri Lanka". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  21. "Avishka Fernando, Angelo Mathews star as Sri Lanka wrap up series win". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  22. "Sri Lanka announce ODI, T20 squads for Pakistan tour". Geo News. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  23. "Record-breaking Sri Lankan batting delivers series win with 161-run victory". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  24. "Mendis, Fernando and bowlers give Sri Lanka series win". The Papare. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  25. "Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis hit tons as Sri Lanka dominate West Indies". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
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