Mohammad Yousuf and Mahela Jayawardene were the architects of an Asian batting effort that mustered a formidable 317 against the Africans at Bangalore's Chinnaswamy Stadium, according to Cricinfo.
After the aggressive intent shown by Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly, the guiding hands of the two visitors solidified the Asian position against a limited bowling attack in front of a partisan crowd.
Jayawardene was his usual self as he late-cut and pulled when offered the chance, and together with reliable Yousuf he stitched together a 96-run association that pushed the field back.
Confident off both the front and back foot, Jayawardene displayed a calm assurance which matched his lazily elegance. Anything dropped fractionally short was glided to third man or dispatched over square leg, and if the ball was full then it had to be driven.
Jayawardene raised his 41st one-day fifty with a clip to fine leg off Steve Tikolo's orthodox off spin and then launched his opposite number Justin Kemp into the long-on stands. He tried to repeat the shot against Tikolo but mistimed it and the ball ballooned up towards silly mid-off where Shaun Pollock juggled the chance.
Yousuf took his time and was at ease in the role of supporting act. He nudged the ball in the gaps and when Tikolo gave him room he cut past point for four. After Jayawardene got to 50 he too got stuck into Tikolo and raised 8000 one-day runs. When he looked like he could do serious damage at the death Yousuf offered a simple catch to AB de Villiers at midwicket off Albie Morkel.
After Yuvraj Singh drove debutant Morne Morkel to mid-off for 31 the tumult of the day was reserved for Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who strode in to the tunes of the hit single over the PA system. But there were no fireworks from his bat as he was run-out for two. Harbhajan Singh and Mashrafe Mortaza swung the bat around to get the total up and above 300.
After Jayawardene won the toss and unsurprisingly elected to bat on a virgin strip, re-laid with a mixture of clay and fine sand and with plenty of assistance for the pace bowlers, the crowd was abuzz.
Sanath Jayasuriya and Sehwag in tandem could be the best of spectacle but Morkel removed Jayasuriya early when de Villiers intercepted a tame square-drive at point.
Sehwag played some classy shots in his 45 during a rollicking 68-run second-wicket partnership with Ganguly, who sent the partisan crowd into delirium when he picked up three consecutive fours to open his account.
The excitement was short-lived, however, as Morne returned to bowl him for a brisk 32 off the inside-edge. Though he took some stick early on, Morne was the quickest bowler on view and always extracted lift from the surface to finish with figures of 3 for 68.
Scorecard
Asia XI innings (50 overs maximum) Runs Balls
ST Jayasuriyac de Villiers b M Morkel 14 18
V Sehwag b Chigumbura 45 42
SC Ganguly b M Morkel 32 29
DPMD Jayawardene c Pollock b Tikolo 65 62
Mohammad Yousuf c Villiers b Morkel 66 74
Yuvraj Singh c Kemp b M Morkel 31 30
MS Dhoni run out (de Villiers/Odoyo) 2 4
Harbhajan Singh c Pollock b Chigumbura 20 22
Mashrafe Mortaza c de Villiers b JA Morkel 13 16
Z Khan not out 6 5 Extras (b 2, lb 3, w 16, nb 2) 23 Total (9 wickets; 50 overs; 228 mins) 317