Sanath Jayasuriya was a game-changer for Sri Lanka with both bat and ball. A legend of the golden era, his all-round brilliance defined matches. Here are his top five performances that showcase his greatness.
Key Takeaways:
Sanath Jayasuriya played 22 years of international cricket (1989–2011).
He scored 20,009+ international runs and took 420+ wickets.
In Tests: 6973 runs (avg 40.07), 14 hundreds, 98 wickets.
In ODIs: 13,430 runs (avg 32.36), 28 hundreds, 323 wickets.
His top 5 performances span both batting and bowling brilliance.
Sanath Jayasuriya Career Stats
Statistic | Test | ODI | Total |
Matches | 110 | 445 | 555 |
Runs Scored | 6,973 | 13,430 | 20,403 |
Batting Average | 40.07 | 32.36 | - |
100s | 14 | 28 | 42 |
200s | 3 | - | 3 |
300s | 1 | - | 1 |
Wickets Taken | 98 | 323 | 421 |
Top 5 Best Sanath Jayasuriya Performances
340 vs India (1997)
This is the highest international score in the career of Sanath Jayasuriya and it came against India in 1997. This test match was all about runs and Sanath Jayasuriya was the highest scorer of them all. He played for 578 balls in this innings and he hit 36 fours and 2 sixes meaning a total of 156 runs in boundaries. He batted at a strike rate of 58.82. He made a statement in this innings and showed the world that he is here for the long haul and he will be one of the very best in the world. This came against India which is the only sad part for me.
Also Read: Top 5 Best Performances of Kumar Sangakkara
253 vs Pakistan (2004)
This was the match where Sanath Jayasuriya was the only man who showed out and he was the difference between a win and a draw for Sri Lanka and this innings came in the second innings vs Pakistan where all the other batters failed. He came out to open and he made 253 out of 347 balls and he hit 33 fours and 4 sixes meaning a total of 156 runs in boundaries and he was striking at 72.91 and his innings ensured that Sri Lanka won by 201 runs. Sanath Jayasuriya was destructive whenever he played.
189 vs India (2000)
His highest ODI score was also against India meaning he loved batting against us and again in this match he was the one man show and he downed India on his own. While opening the batting in the first innings he made a brilliant 189 runs from just 161 balls and out of the 299 runs that Sri Lanka made he made 189. He hit 21 fours and 4 sixes in this innings meaning a total of 108 runs in boundaries. This innings was so brutal that India could not recover and they lost the match by 245 Runs. Sanath Jayasuriya had become an ODI legend by this point.
4/50 and 4/44 vs England (2001)
This is one of the best bowling performances by Sanath Jayasuriya in test cricket. This came against England and it was a strong England team and in the first England batting innings he bowled for 27 overs giving away only 50 runs and he got 4 important wickets which helped restrict England to 253. In the second England batting innings Sanath Jayasuriya picked up 4 wickets again and this time he bowled 32 overs for just 44 runs and he took 4 wickets and he was one of the main reasons Sri Lanka won the match by an innings and 28 runs.
Also Read | Top 5 Best Performances of Arjuna Ranatunga
6/29 vs England (1993)
The 5th performance in this list is also against England so England and India share the honors of being in this list at the receiving end. In this match he destroyed England with the ball and in the first innings he took 6 wickets for only 29 runs in 9.5 overs and Sri Lanka won the match by 8 wickets. This was his best bowling performance in international cricket and he took more than 400 international wickets and I think he is only 1 of the 2 or 3 players in history who have scored more than 20,009 runs and 400+ wickets.
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