Full Name

Hettiarachchi Gamage Jeevantha Mahesh Kulatunga

Born

November 02, 1973, Kurunegala

Age

50y 138d

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Bowling Style

Right arm Medium

Playing Role

Allrounder

Height

5ft 11in

Education

Maliyadeva College, Kurunegala

Jeevantha Kulatunga was the surprise selection for Sri Lanka's Twenty20 squad for the Canada Cup in October 2008, aged 34, but it followed several outstanding domestic seasons. His all-round abilities as an innovative and mentally resilient middle-order batsman capable of playing under pressure, as well as being a wily seam bowler, gave him the edge over less experienced rivals. Sri Lanka's selectors were attracted by his specialist limited-over skills and his huge experience as they tried to strengthen the middle order. He later graduated up the order in T20 cricket for Wayamba, the domestic T20 champions in both 2009 and 2010, carving out a reputation for being one of the most destructive match-winners. In the 2010 season, he finished the third-highest scorer with 277 runs at 69.25 including a 152.19 run strike rate. He was also the first Sri Lankan to score a T20 hundred in domestic cricket and was named Player of the Tournament.

Kulatunga made his first-class debut in 1990-91 at the age of 17 for Kurunegala Youth CC, scoring 64, and was soon grabbed by the club he scored those runs against - Colts Cricket Club, for whom he has played ever since. With players in the calibre of Romesh Kaluwitharana, Sajith Fernando, Thilan Samaraweera and Chaminda Mendis to bat ahead of him Kulatunga became more or less a permanent fixture at No 5. In 2001 he got his first big break when he was picked to represent a Sri Lanka Board President's XI against England at Matara and he scored a half-century. He secured occasional appearances in the Sri Lanka A team, playing against Pakistan and India, but failed to secure a permanent berth as the selectors then embarked on a youth policy that left several outstanding players in their late 20s with too few opportunities. Instead, he forged a successful career playing in the English leagues during the off season, playing for Barnoldswick CC in the Lancashire Leagues from 2002. However, several years of outstanding performances, especially in limited overs and T20 cricket, propelled him back into contention for the national team by late 2008..
Charlie Austin October 2009

Jeevantha Kulatunga Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
T20Is22019119.503850.00000020
FC20630716941423432.35--1457--2100
List A11310311253513227.55--114--620
T20s504761073104*26.17860124.761411234200

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
T20Is2------------
FC206-54132432845/67-28.952.6964.4-10
List A113-725516225/215/2123.454.2732.9210
T20s5013210244154/284/2816.266.9714.0100
Jeevantha Kulatunga

Explore Statsguru Analysis

T20I

Recent Matches of Jeevantha Kulatunga

MatchBatBowlDateGroundFormat
Kurunegala vs SL Navy64 & 120/3330-Mar-2013KurunegalaFC
Kurunegala vs Chilaw CC47 & 553/32 & 0/222-Mar-2013Colombo (RPS)FC
Kurunegala vs Sinhalese32 & 0--15-Mar-2013KurunegalaFC
K Warriors vs Wayamba U23--24-Aug-2012Colombo (RPS)T20
K Warriors vs Ruhuna Ryls31--20-Aug-2012PallekeleT20

Photos of Jeevantha Kulatunga

Jeevantha Kulatunga swings on the leg side during his unbeaten 69
A golden duck for Jeevantha Kulatunga
Jeevantha Kulatunga plays one through the off side
Jeevantha Kulatunga acknowledges the applause after reaching his fifty
Jeevantha Kulatunga walks off after a superb century
Jeevantha Kulatunga smacked 104 from 62 balls