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Jayasuriya scorches Windies

April 2, 2007
A superb century from Sanath Jayasuriya helped Sri Lanka to a total of 303 for five and beat West Indies by 113 runs in their World Cup Super Eights match in Guyana on Sunday.

Jayasuriya, who hit 10 fours and four sixes as he struck 115 in 101 balls, was ably supported by captain Mahela Jayawardene who made 82 as the pair put on 183 for the third wicket.

He later came on to claim three wickets for 38 runs in 8.3 overs.

Sri Lanka were struggling at 35 for two but then, as so often, Jayasuriya took a grip on the game with his punchy and aggressive strokeplay.

Medium pacer Dwayne Smith came in for some particular punishment, going for 18 in one over, with Jayasuriya crashing three fours and a six.

In the process the 37-year-old Sri Lankan overtook Pakistan's Inzamam-ul-Haq to become the second highest run scorer in one day cricket after Sachin Tendulkar.

Along with some patient support from skipper Mahela Jayawardene, Jayasuriya rattled up his 25th one day international century in 86 balls as the West Indian seamers caused him little trouble.

Brian Lara's charges looked short on motivation and confidence in the field and his bowling attack lacked penetration with the Sri Lankan pair choosing their own tempo for run-making.

When Powell finally broke through, a tired Jayasuriya playing on, the 1996 world champions had reached 218 with 11 overs to go and were well poised for a large total.

Photograph: Getty Images

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