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Six centuries in drawn game....:
Jayasuriya with 340 spearheads the scoring for Sri Lanka
By A.C. De Silva
Sri Lanka really touched the world record books in the game of
cricket in the 1997-98 series against India at the R. Premadasa Stadium.
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Sri Lanka’s No.3 batsman Roshan Mahanama (225) left and
opener Sanath Jayasuriya (340) were involved in a worldwind
partnership of 576 runs for the second wicket in the Test
match with India and Sri Lanka and helped Sri Lanka to make
952 for 6 wickets at stumps on the final day in reply to
India’s 537 at the Premadasa Stadium. The match ended in a
draw. |
It was a high-scoring Test and India batting first, made 537 for 8
wickets off 167.3 overs and this score was made possible with three
centuries on the side - M. Sidhu (111), Sachin Tendulkar (143) and
Mohammad Azharuddin (126) who tore into the Sri Lanka attack. India's
total of 537 for 8 wickets came off 167.3 overs).
The Indian score by all means a massive one, but the Lankans still
very young on the Test scene, had determination written all over them
and put out a determined effort in that encounter to make that massive
score of 952 for 6 wickets at stumps on the final day. To think that Sri
Lanka would get to that monumental score was wishful thinking, but it
did happen!
The player who governs Sri Lanka Cricket these days - Sanath
Jayasuriya was the man who played such a wonderful innings in that Test
to make a monumental score of 340 runs in 799 minutes and with number 3
bat Roshan Siriwardene Mahanama (225) who were both involved in a
massive second wicket partnership of 576 runs. They became the first
pair to bat through two full days of a Test match. While Jayasuriya made
that triple century, Mahanama made a double century 225 in 753 minutes.
Then there was Aravinda de Silva who made 126, while Arjuna Ranatunga
(86) and Mahela Jayawardene (66) swelled the score to that unbelievable
mark. The first two days of the match had India piling on the runs for
that good score of 537 for 8 wickets and then declaring. Then it was Sri
Lanka's turn to pile on the runs. The second stand of 576 runs between
Jayasuriya and Mahanama was surpassed in July 2006 as the largest
partnership in Test match history by fellow Sri Lankas Kumar Sangakkara
and Mahela Jayawardene who put on 624 runs against South Africa.
Cricket has been popular here in Sri Lanka in the early days before
Sri Lanka got into the Test fold and the highest total in first class
cricket in those early days was 549 for 8 wickets declared by the
West Indies against Ceylon at the Colombo Oval (now the Saravanamuttu
Stadium) on January 22 and 23 in 1967. This has now been improved on.
The massive West Indies total at centuries by Basil Butcher, Clive
Lloyd and the captain Garfield Sobers.
Then the lowest total in first class-class cricket is 42 by Ceylon
President's XI against Jae Lister's International XI at the Colombo Oval
(now Saravanamuttu Stadium).
Talking of cricket, England had scored over 900 runs in an innings
only once - that was 903 for 7 wickets declared at the London Oval in
1938 and they had taken 15 hours 17 minutes.
Sir Donald Bradman's 334 and Bob Cowper's 307 are the highest
individual scores for Australia in England and in Australia
respectively.
SCOREBOARD
INDIA - 1ST INNINGS
N. Mongia c Jayawardene b Pushpakumara 07
N. Sidhu c Kaluwitharana b Vaas 111
R. Dravid 69
Sachin Tendulkar c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 143
Mohammed Azharuddin c and b Muralitharan 126
S. Ganguly c Mahanama b Jayasuriya 00
A. Kumble not out 27
C. Chauhan c Vaas b Jayasuriya 23
A. Kuruvilla c Atapattu b Pushpakumara 09
Extras (B-10, NB-12) 22
Total (8 wkts dec off 167.3 overs – 675 mts) 537
Fall of wickets: 1-36, 2-183, 3-230, 4-451, 5-451, 6-469,
7- 516,8-537.
Did not bat: V. Prasad, N. Kulkarni
Bowling: C. Vaas 23-4-80-1,
R. Pushpakumara 19.3-2-97-2,
D.P.M. Jayawardene 2-0-6-0,
M. Muralitharan 65-9-174-2,
Silva 39-3-122-0 (NB-7),
Sanath Jayasuriya 18-3-45-3 (NB 5),
M. Atapattu 1-0-3-0).
SRI LANKA – 1ST INNINGS
S. Jayasuriya c Ganguly b Chauhan 340
M. Atapattu c Mongia b Kulkarni 26
R.S. Mahanama lbw b Kumble 225
P.A. de Silva c Prasad b Ganguly 126
A. Ranatunga run out 86
D.P.M. Jayawardene c Kulkarni b Ganguly 66
R.S. Kaluwitharana not out 14
C. Vaas not out 11
Extras (B-27, LB-10, W-7, NB-14) 58
Total (for 6 wkts at stumps off 271 overs) 952
Fall of wickets: 1-39, 2-615, 3-615, 4-790, 5-921, 6-924
Bowling: Prasad 24-1-88-0 (W-4)
Kuruville 14-2-74-0 (NB-4)
Chauhan 78-8-276-1 (W-3, NB-5)
A. Kumble 72-7-223-1 (NB-5)
Kulkarni 70-10-195-1
Ganguly 9-0-53-2
Tendulkar 2-1-2-0
Dravid 2-0-4-0 |
