Happy Birthday Sanath Jayasuriya: Top moments from his iconic career

Sunil Joshi bowling to Jayasuriya in the Coca-Cola cup finals

#5. 189 v India, Sharjah, 2000

The finals of the Coca Cola Champions Trophy in Sharjah could not have been any more one-sided than it turned out to be. In fact, few other games have been this one-sided in the history of the sport itself. That being said, nor could Jayasuriya have been any better in the ODI arena. This is arguably the best that the Sri Lankan southpaw has ever produced and in turn became the architect for the eventual win as well.

Sri Lanka were 116 for 4 in the 28th over, looking like they will score somewhere in 200-220, but fate changed with the main man still there. Together with Russell Arnold, who appeared to exert a calming influence on his captain, Jayasuriya rescued the innings. Arnold nudged the ball around to try and get Jayasuriya on strike as much as possible, and Jayasuriya in turn, timed his shots skilfully and pushed the run-flow forward.

Slowly he reached his century, and suddenly it was as if someone wound a key inside him. He then ran amok, scoring 89 more runs from 43 more balls and took the game away from India. His iron wrists and bulging forearms created immense power in his shots and he hit four sixes and 21 boundaries in total. The final scoreline read 299 for 5, out of which 189 was Sanath's contribution.

India had one of the most disappointing returns in its ODI cricket history as they fell for a mere 54 runs, also handing Sri Lanka the record of largest ever ODI win of 245 runs (broken later) and largest ever ODI win in a tournament final (still unbroken), as Jayasuriya yet again emerged the match-winner.