Sangakkara seeks Lanka win in 100th Test
A hugely proud Kumar Sangakkara hopes Sri Lanka will celebrate his
100th Test appearance with a series-levelling victory over Australia in
the final match in Colombo from Friday.
“It’s a great honour to have represented my country for a period of
time, and also a great honour to play 100 Test matches,” Sangakkara told
reporters ahead of his landmark match at the Sinhalese Sports Club
(SSC).
“It’s not often that a player gets that opportunity and I’m very,
very proud and also very privileged to be given the opportunity to
represent my country and my people for so long. “But the most important
thing is to contribute as much as I can to the side winning games. It’s
nice to participate, but you want to say to your team-mates and others
that we are winners.
“That is what everyone wants, go out there and win matches. It’s what
the whole team is chasing at the moment, to try to win and be the best.”
Sangakkara, who turns 34 next month, will be the fifth Sri Lankan to
play a century of Tests after Muttiah Muralitharan (132 matches), Mahela
Jayawardene (121), Chaminda Vaas (111) and Sanath Jayasuriya (110).
The elegant left-hander has provided substance and stature to Sri
Lanka’s batting along with good friend Jayawardene since his debut
against South Africa in Galle in 2000.
His 8,572 runs in 99 Tests at an average of 55.66 with 25 hundreds
are second in his country’s all-time list, behind Jayawardene’s 9,801
runs from 121 matches. Sangakkara said his goal was to compile 10,000
Test runs and score 30 centuries before he hung up his boots, but
retirement is still far from his mind.
He could not have asked for a better venue than his favourite hunting
ground at the SSC to mark his 100th Test and lead the team’s bid to draw
the three-match series 1-1. In the 18 Tests he had played at the SSC,
Sangakkara has scored 1,864 runs at an awe-inspiring average of 74.56
with seven three-figure knocks, including three double centuries. It was
at the same venue that Sangakkara and Jayawardene recorded the highest
partnership ever in Test cricket: 624 for the third wicket in 2006
against a South African attack that included Dale Steyn and Makhaya
Ntini. Sangakkara made 287, while Jayawardene smashed 374 before being
bowled by Andre Nel agonisingly close to West Indian Brian Lara’s world
record of 400 not out.
Sangakkara has scored centuries in each of his last three Tests at
the SSC, including knocks of 219 and 42 not out against India last year.
But Sri Lanka have not won a Test since the retirement of world
bowling record holder Muralitharan last year, losing three of the 10
played since then, but Sangakkara asked fans to be patient. AFP
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