The Devil’s Wink in Galle: Sri Lanka’s 187–87 Coincidence

Galle, with its sea breeze and cricketing soul, witnessed something quietly uncanny during the first Test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. It wasn’t just the runs or the rhythm—it was the numbers that whispered a story.

Pathum Nissanka, elegant and assured, carved a majestic 187—his highest Test score and a proud moment on home soil. The crowd roared, the fort stood tall, and Sri Lanka’s reply to Bangladesh’s 495 looked solid.

Then came the next batter. Kamindu Mendis. Confident strokes, steady progress… until the scoreboard of his individual read 87. And just like that—dismissed.

Two batters. One on 187, the next on 87. A century apart, yet eerily linked by a number that’s long been feared in cricketing folklore.

In Australian cricket, 87 is known as the Devil’s Number—13 short of a century. The superstition took root when Keith Miller believed he saw Don Bradman dismissed on 87 (though it was actually 89). The myth stuck, and Aussie batters have since eyed 87 with suspicion, as if the number itself carried a curse.

But this? This was something new. A Devil’s Echo—187 followed by 87. Perhaps the cricketing gods were having a chuckle. Perhaps it was just a coincidence. But in Galle, where history and mystery often walk hand in hand, it felt like the game had paused to wink.

And somewhere, in a dusty scorebook or a late-night cricket café, this little numerical oddity will live on—as one of those moments that make Test cricket so deliciously strange.