On this day in 2015: Luke Ronchi and Grant Elliott stitch a world-record stand

The world of cricket is full of records, and players leave no stone unturned while naming a record to their credit in every match they play. Let’s talk of one such match from 2015 when Sri Lanka toured New Zealand. During the 5th ODI of the seven-match series, which was played in Dunedin, the hosts won the match by a massive margin of 108 runs as their two batters displayed their A-game on the given day.

Batting first, the Black Caps were off to a poor start. In fact, their star batter Martin Guptill had to return after producing a duck. They were struggling on 93 runs after losing their five wickets, and this is when some thunderous and magical batting started coming into the display. Grant Elliott and Luke Ronchi accelerated their innings like raging fire. Centuries by Elliott and Ronchi made sure that New Zealand put up a great total on the board, and they remained successful in putting up impressive 360 runs on the board.

Elliott (104 off 96) and Ronchi (170 off 99) not only wreaked havoc on bowlers but stitched a world-record stand of 267 runs against the Lankan team. Out of all the bowlers, Suranga Lakmal and Sachithra Senanayake were smashed most ruthlessly as they maintained the economy of 9.30 and 8.29, respectively. Elliott was named as the player of the match as he scalped two wickets apart from his impactful century.

When the visitors came on the field with the bat, their show ended on 252 runs only. Opening batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan turned out to be their one-man army as he smashed 116 runs on 106 balls. He didn’t receive desired support from the opposite end, and Sri Lanka had to endure a forgettable match. Trent Boult was the best man with the ball as he scalped four wickets with a brilliant economy of 4.40. New Zealand won the match and led the series 3-1 after that point in time.