5 Best innings of Sanath Jayasuriya

We will take a look at the five best innings of Sanath Jayasuriya who was probably Srilankas most explosive and phenomenal batsman.He changed the way top order batsman batted in One Day Internationals, with his devastating hitting in the first 15 overs of fielding restrictions and his complete dominance over spinners and quick bowlers alike. He carried the same style in the test arena and paved way for players like Virender Sehwag, Chris Gayle to develop attacking batting style in the longer format as well.In a career spanning more than 20 years the Matara Mauler played many great innings. Here are they:Note: These are my personal selections,Please feel free to add your favorite innings in the comments.

#5 English feel the heat of the brilliance

SriLanka met England in a knockout match in the 1996 World Cup quarterfinals in Faisalabad, Pakistan for a chance to advance into the semis. England batted first after winning the toss and made a respectable 235 for 8 in their innings with Phil DeFreitas top scoring with 67.

SriLanka started with their regular opening pair of Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwithrana. But Jayasuriya had something else on his mind. After a slow start, he suddenly cut loose with a flurry of boundaries. He was particularly severe on the England spinner Richard Illingworth. Jayasuriya completed his 50 in just 30 balls and then made a further 32 in the next 14 balls to end up with 82 off 44 balls.

This set up a comfortable chase for the rest of the SriLankan batsmen, which they achieved easily. All this was possible because of the early blinding assault by Sanath on the England bowlers in the opening 15 overs.