Published: Apr 02, 2013, 11:39 AM (IST)
Edited: Jul 03, 2014, 07:08 PM (IST)
Sanath Jayasuriya (above) was unflustered. He reached a new record for the fastest century in ODI, in 48 balls, beating Mohammad Azaharuddin’s previous record (62 balls) © Getty Images
On April 2, 1996, Sanath Jayasuriya sustained his awesome exploits in the World Cup with a carried on by blazing his way to a hundred off 48 deliveries — a One-Day International record at the time — against Pakistan on the first day of international cricket in Singapore. Karthik Parimal revisits the blitzkrieg that broke many a record.
The Singer Cup was one of the first tournaments post the eventful 1996 World Cup that Sri Lanka, against all odds, went on to win. Day One of this triangular series, held for the first time in Singapore, was washed out and this resulted in the match being pushed to the reserve day. Two openers who had become a thorn in the flesh of the bowlers during the course of the World Cup — Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana — were to make first use of the wicket after Aamer Sohail, Pakistan’s skipper, asked them to bat — a decision that soon turned horrendous.
The onslaught begins
The carnage commenced from the first over of the innings, and at the wrong end of Jayasuriya’s willow was Waqar Younis. The former bludgeoned him twice through the off-side — one a lofted shot and the other a menacing square-cut. Waqar’s partner Mohammad Akram, too, faced the wrath, and not just from Jayasuriya. Romesh Kaluwitharana, the other perky opener, who, alongside the southpaw, wreaked havoc on the World Cup stage just a few weeks ago, carried forward the momentum.
Together, they struck 40 runs within the first three overs, before Kaluwitharana was caught by Saqlain Mushtaq off Younis. He collected two fours and two sixes during his breezy knock of 24 (in 10 balls). The boundaries were no doubt shorter than the usual length, but looking at the ferocity with which each delivery was battered, there is little doubt that it would have fetched similar results on bigger grounds as well.
Despite the hiccup, Jayasuriya remained unflustered. He continued to pummel Akram, scoring heavily on the on-side, especially through the mid-wicket. Saqlain’s off-breaks were introduced in as early as the eighth over — a move quite uncommon back then — and even he could do little to arrest the leak. Having decided to lead from front, Aamer Sohail, with his slow left-arm orthodox, tried to tame the effervescent southpaw, but it proved futile, for two sixes were scored off him in the 10th over. The worse, though, was yet to come for Sohail.
The 14th over of that innings will be etched in Sohail’s memory, albeit for all the wrong reasons. He started in a dreadful manner, conceding four off a no-ball, but what followed next certainly put the first ball in better light. Four sixes were flogged in the next four deliveries, over backward square-leg and the mid-wicket regions, before a single and wide followed. Thirty runs were scored of that over, a record for most runs conceded in a single over in limited-overs international back then. A total of 150 had been amassed with fielding regulations still in effect. Sohail couldn’t help but sport a wry smile.
In the 15th over, bowled by Aaqib Javed, a dab towards square-leg for a single brought Jayasuriya’s hundred up; or so it was believed based on the manual scoreboard. In reality, he had moved to 99 with that shot. Nevertheless, a push towards the off-side in the next over off Saleem Malik ensured the landmark this time, and it was a new record for the fastest century in One-Day Internationals (ODI), in 48 balls, beating Mohammad Azharuddin‘s previous record (62 balls).
Boundaries kept flowing even after the ton, however, 34 runs later, a miscued hit off Saqlain and Akram’s safe palms at short third man meant that his innings came to a screeching halt at 134. Nonetheless, by then, he collected 11 fours and set a record for most sixes in limited-overs international — 11 — surpassing Gordon Greenidge’s previous record of eight against India in 1989.
Despite Asanka Gurusinha’s alarmingly slow approach (29 from 56 balls), a cameo from Kumar Dharmasena towards the end of the innings propelled Sri Lanka’s total to 349 for the loss of nine wickets. Only Saqlain’s bowling figures made for a good reading, while the rest conceded over at least six runs per over.
In reply, Pakistan were always in the hunt, scoring swiftly and sans losing sight of the required run-rate. The short boundaries appeared advantageous, and although most batsmen got starts, only Saleem Malik and Inzamam-ul-Haq scored over fifty. Yet, it was enough to push them to a total of 315, 35 runs short of victory. With that, a fourth record during the course of the match was broken, this the highest match aggregate in ODIs — 664 runs.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 349 for 9 (Sanath Jayasuriya 134, Kumar Dharmasena 51; Waqar Younis 4 for 62, Saqlain Mushtaq 2 for 45) beat Pakistan 315 (Saleem Malik 68, Inzamam-ul-Haq 67, Aamer Sohail 46; Chaminda Vaas 2 for 50, Kumar Dharmasena 2 for 51, Muttiah Muralitharan 2 for 59) by 34 runs.
(Karthik Parimal, a Correspondent with CricketCountry, is a cricket aficionado and a worshipper of the game. He idolises Steve Waugh and can give up anything, absolutely anything, just to watch a Kumar Sangakkara cover drive. He can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/
