PAKISTAN v SRI LANKA

At Singapore, April 2. Sri Lanka won by 34 runs. Toss: Pakistan.

When Aamir Sohail asked Sri Lanka to bat in the second attempt at starting the game, Jayasuriya exploded into action with the quickest century in the history of limited-overs internationals. He rushed from a 32-ball 50 to a 48-ball hundred, with seven sixes and nine fours, easily beating Mohammad Azharuddin's 62 balls against New Zealand in 1988-89. Three balls later, he overtook Gordon Greenidge's record of eight sixes in a one-day international, set against India the same season. He had hit four successive sixes off Sohail in the most expensive over ever bowled at this level: it yielded 30 runs, 29 to Jayasuriya and one wide. Jayasuriya was eventually out for 134, out of 196 for two, from 65 balls, with 11 sixes and 11 fours (in fact, his last scoring stroke came off his 58th ball, before a final lull). A late fifty from Dharmasena lifted Sri Lanka to 349 and challenged Pakistan to score seven an over. Salim Malik and Inzamam-ul-Haq batted defiantly and Pakistan managed to finish in sight of the target. The match aggregate of 664 for 19 was one more record, beating the 662 for 17 scored by West Indies and Sri Lanka at Sharjah in October 1995.

Man of the Match: S. T. Jayasuriya.