Former Sri Lankan cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya is one of the greatest strong batsmen of any era. The stylish left-handed batter is widely recognised for his tremendous hitting and match-winning all-around abilities across all formats of the game. In addition, this great all-rounder played a major role in the team that clinched the 1996 Cricket World Cup trophy and was part of the rosters that advanced to the finals of the 2007 World Cup and the 2009 T20 World Cup. Additionally, he was made captain of the Sri Lankan side. Notably, the captaincy proved to interfere with his batting, and he subsequently chose to step down following the 2003 World Cup.
During ODIs, he is only the second player to have amassed more than 13,000 runs at an average strike rate higher than 90. Furthermore, the slow-arm orthodox bowler ranks ninth in historic ODI wicket collection with 322 wickets, featuring four 5-wicket hauls. Considering figures like that, the 54-year-old is certainly entitled to claim that he is one of the most elite one-day cricket players in the history of cricket and is undoubtedly the most outstanding one-day cricketer Sri Lanka has produced to date.
Here are Sanath Jayasuriya’s greatest three knocks in international match
340 vs India in 2007
During two Test matches in August 1997, the Indian cricket team was invited to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka posted the most powerful team total ever in the Test format during their first match, accumulating 952 runs for six wickets against India. In spite of breaking several milestones, Sanath Jayasuriya produced an important 340 runs at Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium, creating a new record for the longest partnership for a second wicket. After the match, the left-arm opening batter received the award for player of the series along with the man of the match award.
189 vs India in 2000
This all began on October 29, 2000, when Sanath Jayasuriya’s Sri Lanka faced off against India, which was led by Sourav Ganguly, in the three-series final match. India was beaten by the Sri Lankan team at Sharjah as they were all bundled out for just 54 runs, and Sri Lanka won that match by 245 runs. In order to put a total of 299 runs on the scoreboard, the stylish batter solely drove the team from the very beginning and hit every corner of the stadium. Notably, he made 189 runs, including 21 fours and a six, while facing 166 balls.
152 vs England in 2006
England and Sri Lanka faced off for a five-match ODI series. In the last ODI, Sanath smashed 152 runs from just 99 balls. In the final one-day match against England at Headingley, he guided Sri Lanka to an astonishing eight-wicket triumph, sealing the most perfect of whitewashes and clinching the series 5-0.