On this day: Jayasuriya, Jayawardene and Sangakkara shine in SL’s win over England
Sri Lanka toured England for a full tour in the summer of the year 2006 for three Tests, solitary T20I, and five One-day internationals. The Test series was drawn 1-1 with Sri Lanka winning the T20 international. The visitors also clinched the first ODI by 20 runs and both the sides then met in the second game with the Lankan Lions taking a 2-0 lead thanks to solid performances from their star trio.
After winning the first ODI, Sri Lanka faced England in the second game on June 20, 2006, at the Kennington Oval in London. Skipper Mahela Jayawardene won the toss as the tourists elected to bat first. Upul Tharanga opened the innings with Sanath Jayasuriya and he got dismissed for 17 runs. Then, it was all about the legendary Lankan batters as they shone with their respective performances.
Swashbuckling opening batter Jayasuriya struck his 20th century in the format then with Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara both smashing half-centuries each. Captain Jayawardene amassed 66 off 62, which included five fours and a maximum. Wicketkeeper batter Sangakkara racked up 51 off 41 with five fours and a six as they helped their side in reaching a huge total of 319/8 in 50 overs.
Jayasuriya and Jayawardene added 160 runs for the second wicket while the former also shared 65 runs partnership with Sangakkara for the third wicket as the trio took the Island nation to a total of above 310 runs. Jayasuriya backed up his batting performance with the ball as well as he took 3/51 in his nine-over spell to help Sri Lanka in winning the match by 46 runs. He also won the Player of the Match award for his century and three wicket-haul. With this win, the visitors took a 2-0 and later went on to whitewash England 5-0 in the series.
