Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, ( si, පල්ලෙකැලේ ජාත්‍යන්තර ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩාංගනය, ta, பல்லேகல சர்வதேச கிரிக்கெட் மைதானம்) is a cricket stadium in

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. In July 2010, The Central Provincial Council in Kandy announced plans to rename the stadium to honour the legendary Sri Lankan cricketer

Muttiah Muralitharan Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan ( si, මුත්තයියා මුරලිදරන්, ta, முத்தையா முரளிதரன், also spelt Muralidaran; born 1972) is a Sri Lankan cricket coach, former professional c ...

, but hasn't officially done so yet. The stadium was opened on 27 November 2009 and became the 104th Test venue in the world in December 2010.

Location and background

The stadium is located about a half-hour drive east of Kandy. The stadium is wholly owned by

Sri Lanka Cricket Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is the governing body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It was first registered with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Sports (Sri Lanka), Ministry of Sports as the Board of Cricket for Sri Lanka (BCCSL) on 30 June 1975 as a national spo ...

and has a capacity of 35,000.

History

The stadium was built for the

2011 Cricket World Cup The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup was the tenth Cricket World Cup. It was played in India, Sri Lanka, and for the first time in Bangladesh. India won the tournament, defeating Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, thus ...

along with

Hambantota International Cricket Stadium Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, also known as Sooriyawewa International Cricket Stadium ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ජාත්‍යන්තර ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩාංගනය, ta ...

. The first Test match on this stadium between Sri Lanka and the West Indies was played from 1 to 5 December 2010. The first One Day International match at the venue was played between New Zealand and Pakistan on 8 March 2011. Pallekele is also the host for the

Kandurata cricket team Kandurata cricket team was a Sri Lankan First-class cricket, first class cricket team based in Kandy, that represented Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. Kandurata competed in all three provincial tournaments:the first ...

. On 21 September 2011, it was announced that the Pallekele International Cricket stadium would host nine

2012 ICC World Twenty20 The 2012 ICC World Twenty20 was the fourth ICC World Twenty20 competition, an international Twenty20 cricket tournament that took place in Sri Lanka from 18 September to 7 October 2012 which was won by the West Indies. The schedule has been pos ...

matches.

Notable events

Tillakaratne Dilshan Tillakaratne Mudiyanselage Dilshan ( si, තිලකරත්න මුදියන්සේලාගේ ඩිල්ෂාන්; born 14 October 1976), commonly known as TM Dilshan () is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and former captain of th ...

and

Upul Tharanga Warushavithana Upul Tharanga (born 2 February 1985), commonly known as Upul Tharanga ( si, උපුල් තරංග), is a former professional Sri Lankan cricketer, and a former limited over captain who played for all formats of the game. He ...

added a 282 run partnership for the first wicket against

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

on 26 March 2011. This is the highest partnership for the first wicket in a Cricket World Cup match. * By dismissing

Chris Gayle Christopher Henry Gayle, OD (born 21 September 1979) is a Jamaican cricketer who has been playing international cricket for the West Indies since 1999. A destructive batter, Gayle is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen to have play ...

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

, Sri Lanka's

Suranga Lakmal Ranasinghe Arachchige Suranga Lakmal ( si, රණසිංහ ආරච්චිගේ සුරංග ලක්මාල්; born 10 March 1987) is a former professional Sri Lankan cricketer, who played in all formats of the game and is a forme ...

became the third bowler to take a wicket with the first ball bowled in a Test match at a new venue, joining

Kapil Dev Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj (Pronunciation: əpiːl deːʋ born 6 January 1959) is an Indian former cricketer. He was a fast-medium bowler and a hard-hitting middle-order batsman, and was named by ''Wisden'' as the Indian Cricketer of the Centu ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. *

Shaun Marsh Shaun Edward Marsh (born 9 July 1983) is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Western Australia cricket team in Australian domestic cricket and has represented Australia in all three formats. Nicknamed SOS ("Son of Swampy"), he is a left-h ...

and

Mike Hussey Michael Edward Killeen Hussey (born 27 May 1975) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator and former international cricketer, who played all forms of the game. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname 'Mr Cricket'. Hussey was a relative la ...

added 258 runs for the 4th wicket, the highest fourth wicket partnership in Sri Lanka vs Australia test matches. * Tillakaratne Dilshan scored a Twenty20 International century against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, becoming the second Sri Lankan to score centuries in all formats. This is the highest individual innings by a Sri Lankan in T20Is, and made Dilshan the first ever cricketer to score centuries in all formats as a captain. * Highest individual Test score at the venue is 176 scored by

Kusal Mendis Balapuwaduge Kusal Gimhan Mendis, generally known as Kusal Mendis is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer who plays as a top-order batter in all forms of the game. He only played sixteen first-class matches before playing for the national side. ...

against Australia in 2016. * While attempting to bat time for a draw on the fifth day, the ninth and tenth-wicket partnerships featuring

Steve O'Keefe Stephen Norman John O'Keefe (born 9 December 1984) is an Australian cricketer who has played for the Australian national team in Test matches and Twenty20 Internationals, and a commentator for SEN and Nine. O'Keefe was formerly the captain of ...

Peter Nevill Peter Michael Nevill (born 13 October 1985) is an Australian former cricketer who played 17 Tests and 9 T20 internationals for Australia. He also represented New South Wales and the Melbourne Stars, having previously played for the Melbourne R ...

and

Josh Hazlewood Josh Reginald Hazlewood (born 8 January 1991) is an Australian international cricketer. He is a tall pace bowler known for his accuracy and has been compared to former Australian paceman Glenn McGrath. Hazlewood currently ranks no.2 in ODI, no.1 ...

(Aus) faced a Test cricket record 25.4 consecutive overs without scoring a run. *Bowling figures of 7/107 by

Lakshan Sandakan Paththamperuma Arachchige Don Lakshan Rangika Sandakan, commonly known as Lakshan Sandakan (born 10 June 1991), is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer who plays for the national team in all three formats of the game. He is a past pupil of De Maz ...

in the match is the best by a

slow left-arm wrist-spin Left-arm unorthodox spin, also known as slow left-arm wrist-spin, is a type of spin bowling in the sport of cricket. Left-arm unorthodox spin bowlers use wrist spin to spin the ball, and make it deviate, or 'turn' from left to right after pitchin ...

bowler on Test debut. * Pallekele has witnessed 3 Twenty20 International centuries, most at any venue - Dilshan (104), McCullum (123) and Maxwell (145). * On 7 September 2016, Australia recorded the Highest Twenty20 International total ever by scoring 263/3 against Sri Lanka, who previously held the record (260/6). * On 14 August 2017, India defeated Sri Lanka by an innings and 171 runs and with that, India whitewashed Sri Lanka for the first time in Tests. * On 6 September 2019 against New Zealand,

Lasith Malinga Separamadu Lasith Malinga ( si, සෙපරමාදු ලසිත් මාලිංග; born 28 August 1983), nicknamed "Slinga Malinga", is a Sri Lankan former cricketer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest limited overs bowlers ...

took four-in-four wickets in T20Is. It was his second four-in-four in international formats. He also took his 100th wicket in T20Is in the same match, becoming the first cricketer to take 100 wickets in all three formats.

Ground Figures

Key

* P Matches Played * H Matches Won by Home Side * T Matches Won by Touring Side * N Matches Won by Neutral Side *D/N/T Matches Drawn/No Result/Tied Updated 6 September 2018

2011 Cricket World Cup

The following

matches were played in Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. The first official international match was between

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

on 8 March 2011. A total of three matches were played at the venue during the 2011 World Cup.

2012 ICC World Twenty20

hosted the

. Nine matches were played in Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. ;Group matches ;Super 8s File:Sri Lanka Cricket Team Practicing.jpg, The

Sri Lankan cricket team The Sri Lanka men's national cricket team, ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජාතික ක්‍රිකට් කණ්ඩායම, ta, இலங்கை தேசிய கிரிக்கெட் அணி) nicknamed The Lions ...

practising File:Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.JPG, The stadium under lights File:Pallekele 1.JPG, During the 106th

Dharmaraja–Kingswood Cricket Encounter The Dharmaraja–Kingswood Cricket Encounter is a cricket match between two government-run national schools in Kandy, Sri Lanka, Dharmaraja College (with approximately 4,500 students) and Kingswood College (with approximately 3,500 students). I ...

File:Pallekele 2.JPG, Main pavilion File:Pallekele International Cricket Stadium (4).JPG, Practice sessions before the match between Sri Lanka and India

References

External links

Cricinfo profile on Pallekele
{{Kandy landmarks Cricket grounds in Sri Lanka Test cricket grounds in Sri Lanka Sports venues in Central Province, Sri Lanka 2009 establishments in Sri Lanka 2011 Cricket World Cup stadiums