Top 6 batting performances of Tillakaratne Dilshan
As Tillakaratne Dilshan walked out to bat for one final time in his final T20 International career, the steely glint in the opener's eyes gave an inkling that he was seeking runs in his fearless way.
The guard of honour from his team-mates would have made even the spirited opener feel a few butterflies in his stomach. Dilshan jabbed at a few deliveries, a far cry from the 39-year-old's halcyon days when he would unerringly find gaps with a flurry of boundaries.
The end came abruptly when he toe-ended a short and wide delivery to David Warner at first slip. As the Colombo crowd bade a teary goodbye to the great Sri Lankan, one was left with nothing but to recollect from the nostalgic memories.
With Dilshan having played his final match for Sri Lanka, let’s recount some of his timeless feats across frontiers and formats:
1) 193, England v Sri Lanka, Lord's 2011
When Dilshan took guard at the sacred turf of Lord's in 2011, the visitors had a mountain to climb as England had notched up a sizeable 486 in their first innings. However, Dilshan led from the front with a century to balm their wounded pride after the trio of Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann and Chris Tremlett had infused a dramatic collapse in the first Test in Cardiff to send Sri Lanka hurtling towards a defeat.
In that innings, Dilshan bisected the gaps with whirring drives and pulls off Broad. When Swann tossed it up, he landed powerful blows and reached his century in quick time.
The raw emotions he showed by pumping his fists and kissing the Sri Lankan badge to celebrate his hundred, gave a glimpse of how much it meant to him to compose a hundred at Lord's. Barring a tough chance grassed by Matthews Prior off Graeme Swann on 80, it was a near-flawless knock.
Steven Finn, eventually, ended Dilshan's tenacious effort with a delivery that nipped back sharply to shatter the leg-stump, as he fell just seven runs short of becoming the first Sri Lankan to compile a double ton at Lord's.
It has to be also noted that Dilshan had to play through the pain barrier during that innings. Initially, he had to wade through a tough spell from Tremlett. The tall fast bowler, standing at 6'7”, extracted disconcerting bounce, to produce a well-directed short delivery after Tea on Day 2 to land a painful blow on Dilshan's right thumb. Incidentally, the Hampshire fast bowler rattled Dilshan with another crushing blow on his thumb (X-rays later revealed that he had sustained a fracture).