Jayawardene into the record books

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AFP

Mahela Jayawardene played one of Sri Lanka’s best knocks in T20 cricket at the time, when the team came up against Zimbabwe in the 1st round of the 2010 World T20.

The pitch was not the easiest to get going on, but Jayawardene showed that he was in silky smooth touch, scoring a masterful ton off 63 deliveries.

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Of Sri Lanka’s top 6 on the day, only he and Thisara Perera were able to get to double figures, illustrating just how tough conditions were for batting. Perera, the 2nd highest scorer in Sri Lanka’s innings, made just 23, while Jayawardene carried the team to 173.

Jayawardene adjusted to the conditions perfectly, putting away his drives and sweeping the Zimbabwean spinners square – a shot that earned him most of his runs. There wasn’t a single shot in anger from the right-hander, he looked unhurried, yet scored at a rollicking rate.

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He became only the 4th player to make a T20I century and went into the 1st Sri Lankan to do so.

The crowds were fortunate enough to catch the stylish innings, before the rains came down in Providence, cutting the Zimbabwean innings down to just 5 overs as Sri Lanka won on D/L method.