A Jayasuriya Special

World Cup Classics: 1st quarter final, England v Sri Lanka, Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, 9 March 1996

The 15-over field restrictions were already being applied in the ODIs but Jayasuriya along with Romesh Kaluwitharana was among the best to exploit this rule. In this first Quarter-final, Jayasuriya left England awestruck and out of the Cup with a blistering knock which gave new meaning to the term ‘pinch-hitting’.

Mike Atherton won the toss and opted to bat first. He was the first man to go at 31 in the 8th over. England continued to lose wickets regularly including Robin Smith who was contentiously given run-out by the 3rd umpire. Phil DeFreitas was promoted at number 5 to increase the run rate with a view to posting a total big enough for Sri Lankans to surmount. He scored more than run a ball and put on a decent 5th wicket stand with Alec Stewart to put the innings back on track. But he too was erroneously given out LBW off Jayasuriya on a ball going down the leg side. He made 67 off 64 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes. At 173 for 7 in the 41st over, England were in danger of folding over before 50 overs but Dermot Reeve (35 off 34 ) and Darren Gough (26 with 5 fours) provided late sparkle to end the innings at 235 for 8. It was not a big total but one the England bowlers could fight to defend.

Richard Illingworth was given the new ball to surprise the dangerous Sri Lankan opening pair. He had an immediate success when he bowled Kalu around his legs after being hit for two successive fours. Jayasuriya then went berserk and toyed with English bowling. He hit Illingworth for 4 consecutive fours before taking 22 off a DeFreitas over. It was such mayhem for England that before they could realize he had taken the game away from them. Sri Lanka were 113 in 13 overs when he was stumped by Jack Russel off Reeve. He made a thunderous 82 off just 44 balls with 13 fours and 3 sixes. The asking rate for Sri Lanka was just 3.32 with 8 wickets in hand. Rest of the batsmen made sure Sri Lanka win comprehensively in the 41st over and reach the World Cup semi-finals for the first time. On the other hand this was the first occasion when England failed to make it to the top four in a World Cup.

Sanath Jayasuriya was named Man of the Match for his two wickets and whirlwind innings of 82. His batting had also sent warning signals to other teams for the rest of the tournament as well as established him the most fearsome opening batsman in the ODIs.