Jayasuriya special takes SL to 332
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
As birthday bashes go, this one was pretty special, with Sanath Jayasuriya bludgeoning Bangladesh into near-submission as Sri Lanka took a giant stride towards the Asia Cup final, reports Cricinfo.
Some of the Bangladesh players were still in diapers when Jayasuriya made his debut, and they must have felt as helpless as babies at times when he celebrated his 39th birthday with the fluent shot-making and power-hitting that typified his halcyon years. He raced to a century off only 55 balls, and it almost escaped attention that Kumar Sangakkara eased his way to an elegant century to follow the one he made against Pakistan just 24 hours earlier. And though it turned out to be a two-man show, Sri Lanka still piled up 332 from their 50 overs.
Jayasuriya and Sangakkara added 201 in only 27.5 overs before Jayasuriya ran out of puff in the Karachi heat. A poor delivery from Alok Kapali was lofted to deep cover where Tamim Iqbal took the catch. There was scarcely any joy because, by then, Jayasuriya had pounded 130 off only 88 balls, with a heady rhythm of cuts, pulls and drives.
Sangakkara carried on though, having been reprieved by Kapali off his own bowling on 51. He drove beautifully down the ground and made good use of both the orthodox sweep and the slogged version. Occasionally, he would also come down the track and loft the ball over the infield, as Bangladesh appeared bereft of options.
50 overs: Sri Lanka 332 for 8 (Jayasuriya 130, Sangakkara 121) against Bangladesh 93/2 at 9:30 pm.
Some of the Bangladesh players were still in diapers when Jayasuriya made his debut, and they must have felt as helpless as babies at times when he celebrated his 39th birthday with the fluent shot-making and power-hitting that typified his halcyon years. He raced to a century off only 55 balls, and it almost escaped attention that Kumar Sangakkara eased his way to an elegant century to follow the one he made against Pakistan just 24 hours earlier. And though it turned out to be a two-man show, Sri Lanka still piled up 332 from their 50 overs.
Jayasuriya and Sangakkara added 201 in only 27.5 overs before Jayasuriya ran out of puff in the Karachi heat. A poor delivery from Alok Kapali was lofted to deep cover where Tamim Iqbal took the catch. There was scarcely any joy because, by then, Jayasuriya had pounded 130 off only 88 balls, with a heady rhythm of cuts, pulls and drives.
Sangakkara carried on though, having been reprieved by Kapali off his own bowling on 51. He drove beautifully down the ground and made good use of both the orthodox sweep and the slogged version. Occasionally, he would also come down the track and loft the ball over the infield, as Bangladesh appeared bereft of options.
50 overs: Sri Lanka 332 for 8 (Jayasuriya 130, Sangakkara 121) against Bangladesh 93/2 at 9:30 pm.