World Cup runs at last for Jayawardene and Sangakkara

Sri Lanka's 243-run win against Bermuda was the third-largest in all ODIs, and the second-largest in World Cup matches

15-Mar-2007

Sri Lanka's first match of the 2007 World Cup was a comfortable walk in the park. Cricinfo looks at the stats highlights from the game.

Kumar Sangakkara finally got some World Cup runs as Sri Lanka thrashed Bermuda at Port-of-Spain © Getty Images

Sri Lanka's 243-run win against Bermuda was the third-largest margin of victory in one-day internationals, and the second-largest in World Cups, next only to Australia's 256-run thrashing of Namibia in 2003.

Sri Lanka's total of 321 for 6 is their second-highest in World Cups, after their 398 for 5 against Kenya at Kandy in 1996. It was their third 300-plus score in World Cups, and they've all come against non-Test-playing teams.

Sri Lanka's heroes with the bat were their three middle-order batsmen, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Chamara Silva. Both Jayawardene and Sangakkara notched their maiden half-centuries in a World Cup: Jayawardene's previous highest in 11 innings was just 45, while Sangakkara's 39 not out was his highest in his nine earlier knocks.

Bermuda's total of 78 was six runs lesser than Jayawardene's 84. It was the eighth instance in World Cups of a batsman's score being greater than the entire opposition's total.

Batsman's score being greater than opposition total
Batsman	Score	Opposition	Total	Venue & year
Denis Amiss	137	India	132 for 3	Lord's, 1975
Glenn Turner	171*	East Africa	128 for 8	Birmingham
Viv Richards	181	Sri Lanka	169 for 4	Karachi, 1987
Gary Kirsten	188*	UAE	152 for 8	Rawalpindi, 1996
Sachin Tendulkar	152	Namibia	130	Pietermaritzburg, 2003
Matthew Hayden	88	Namibia	45	Potchefstroom, 2003
Chris Gayle	119	Kenya	104	Kimberley, 2003
Mahela Jayawardene	84	Bermuda	78	Trinidad, 2007

The 150-run third-wicket stand between Jayawardene and Sangakkara was the first century partnership of the 2007 World Cup. The pair once again demonstrated their special relationship at the crease: Jayawardene and Sangakkara have now put together 2443 runs in ODIs - with six century stands - at an average of 43.62 runs per partnership.

Farveez Maharoof became the first Sri Lankan bowler, and the 17th in all, to capture at least four wickets on his World Cup debut.

Mahela Jayawardene Farveez Maharoof Sri Lanka Bermuda Sri Lanka vs Bermuda ICC World Cup