Sanath Jayasuriya was always known as a destructive batsman, but by 2007, many thought his time was up.
Kenyan skipper sent Sri Lanka in to bat in Johannesburg and it turned out to be a decision he would soon regret. Jayasuriya and his opening partner Upul Tharanga flayed at everything from ball one and it didn’t take long for the ‘Master blaster’ to clear the ropes.
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It was carnage from ball one and the Kenyan bowlers had no answer to Jayasuriya’s onslaught, like so many before them. The trademark cuts, pulls and lofted drives came out as the ball flew off the left-hander’s bat.
He ended up making 88 off 44 deliveries, including 11 fours and 4 sixes, putting Sri Lanka well on course to a record total.
Jehan Mubarak’s late onslaught, where he barely missed out on the fastest fifty in T20Is, saw Sri Lanka to 260/6 at the end of their 20 overs.
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Kenya ended up being bowled out for 88, giving Sri Lanka the largest margin of victory (172 runs) in terms of runs at the time. This record has since been broken by Romania (173 runs vs Turkey in 2019) and the Czech Republic (257 vs Turkey in 2019).
Sri Lanka’s total was, at the time, the highest in T20I cricket, but has since been eclipsed by Australia (263 vs Sri Lanka in 2016), Czech Republic (278 vs Turkey in 2019) and Afghanistan (278 vs Ireland in 2019).
