Sri lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara on Friday described his match-winning unbeaten knock of 134 against England in the Champions Trophy as one of the best innings of his career.
“Yeah, it has to be. And I am pretty happy about it and am all the more so as we won the match and we kept ourselves alive in the tournament,” Sangakkara said when asked if it was one of his best knocks.
Sangakkara played a composed 135-ball unconquered innings for his 15th ODI hundred in his 342nd match, which was studded with 12 fours, as Sri lanka chased down the target of 294 with 17 balls to spare in their must-win Group A match at the oval.
He shared three crucial partnerships — 92 with opener Tillakaratne Dilshan (44) for second wicket, 85 with Mahela Jayawardene (42) for the third wicket and 110 for the unbroken fourth wicket with Nuwan Kulasekara (58 not out) — after Kushal Perera (6) was out cheaply in the third over itself.
Kulasekara, who was promoted up the order, made the run chase an easy one later on as he hit a 38-ball unbeaten 58 with the help of five fours and three sixes, which took the game away from England.
Sangakkara fittingly hit the winning runs, a four, as Sri lanka reached 297 for three in 47.1 overs.
He also gave credit to Mahela Jayawardene and Nuwan Kulasekara for his side’s win.
“We had to play well at the start, see off Jimmy Anderson but Mahela played really well and we got on top of it. Kulasekara took the pressure off me and those two big overs, off Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad, were decisive,” said Sangakkara at the Oval here.
Sangakkara, who was adjudged man-of-the-match, said his side would now focus on beating Australia in their last Group A match to book a berth in the semifinals. “That’s the Champions Trophy for you, the pressure is on, players aspire to play in it. I’m pleased to have done well today. We’ve got to win another one, the Aussies are a tough outfit so we’ll have to prepare well.”
England captain Alastair Cook gave credit to the Sri lankans and said they deserved to win the match.
“Obviously that was an outstanding hundred, any time you chase 300 someone has to play well. The pitch quickened up but sometimes you have to say credit where it’s due,” he said.
“The rate was always seven, we could have taken a couple more wickets but they played well. It was very hard to get the ball to reverse swing and it was changed after 21 overs. I thought 300 was about par. If you add another 20 runs on that would probably have been enough.”