Top 6 batting performances of Tillakaratne Dilshan

4) 108 not out and 1-25, Sri Lanka v England, Colombo (RPS) 2011

Sri Lanka beat England by 10 wickets in the quarter-final

Despite a topsy-turvy campaign in the group phase of the 2011 World Cup held in the subcontinent, England arrived on the shores of Colombo for the quarter-final game against Sri Lanka on a confident note. In Swann and James Tredwell, the visitors had the arsenal to usurp Sri Lanka in the sapping heat.

The tourists, though, put up a stultifying batting performance before Dilshan and Upul Tharanga shared an unbeaten stand of 231, and for Sri Lanka to record a thumping 10-wicket win.

Dilshan's calm demeanour at the start of the innings indicated that he was unburdened by the track offering assistance to the spinners. He showed purposeful aggression against the new ball to dispatch the English pacers square on the off-side for a stream of boundaries.

The veteran batsman then uncoiled his wrists to chip down the track to repeatedly loft the spin-duo of Tredwell and Swann. With both the openers nearing the three-figure mark, Dilshan drove Swann for a four to reach the milestone. As a result, Tharanga was left almost stranded on 98, with Sri Lanka requiring three more runs to seal the game.

Dilshan, though, immediately apologised to his opening partner and stonewalled a couple of deliveries from Swann. Tharanga followed it up by slapping Tremlett square on the off-side to compose a well-measured century. The poignancy of Dilshan's apology to Tharanga would be etched in one's mind. Earlier, Dilshan had also scuppered England's ambitions of posting a sizeable total by dismissing Andrew Strauss.