Mahela Jayawardene - A man for the big stage
There is a famous saying in cricket that ‘when the going gets tough, the tough gets going’ and the former Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene proved that he is a tough cookie. The prolific middle order batsman scored an unbeaten hundred in the final of
the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 and more importantly helped his team post a competitive total on the board.
The Islanders were in a spot of bother at one stage with their openers back in the dressing room for only 60 runs on the board in the 17th over of the innings. At that stage, Jayawardene joined his captain Kumar Sangakkara on the crease and not
only consolidated the innings for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 but also increased the run rate.
Both the senior players took the responsibility on their shoulders under trying circumstances and showed to the rest of the world that they are world class operators. The veterans accumulated 62 runs of 68 balls between them before Sangakkara edged one to
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Yuvraj-Singh-c98364.
Jayawardene took control of the situation from then onwards and guided the others through difficult phases. The best part about his brilliant knock was his placement as he found gaps at will and that was the reason why Jayawardene was able to give the much
needed momentum to the Sri Lankan innings.
Mahela ended up scoring an unbeaten 103 runs which came off just 88 balls with the help of 13 boundaries. His innings reminded the 1996 World Cup final to the cricket fans when the legendary middle order batsman Arvinda de Silva struck an outstanding hundred
in Lahore to guide his team through to the world title.
33 years old right hander burst into the international scene back in 1997 and since then he has been a permanent member of the Sri Lankan team. He was rated as a great talent since his school days and he lived up to the expectations in style with a fantastic
career.
He captained his country for a number of years before quitting the job voluntarily for his old friend Sangakkara. Jayawardene has surely been a great servant of Sri Lankan cricket and brought a lot of laurels for his country. He helped his team reach the
final of the previous edition of the World Cup in the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760, however he failed to beat the mighty Aussies to lift the premier trophy of world cricket.
The middle order batsman proved once again in the final that he is one for the big stage and has always been able to raise his game whenever his country needed him the most.
His knock is also a huge lesson for the young batsmen all around and even for the experienced ones. The youngsters can learn to build a limited overs innings, whereas the seasoned professionals can take it as a prime example of raising the game on a big
occasion.
Regardless of the result of the final, Jayawardene has surely put his name in the history books as his knock would be remembered for years to come.
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