Kumar Sangakkara became the first player in the history of one-day international cricket to score four consecutive hundreds with another classy display against Scotland. Sangakarra has now racked up 496 tournament runs in 6 digs, including tons against Bangladesh, Australia, England and Scotland. His and Tilakaratne Dilshan’s hundreds were enough to see them past Scotland by 148 runs on Day 25 of the World Cup. Here’s a rundown of the action:
Day 25 Results
Sri Lanka v Scotland
As soon as Angelo Matthews won the toss, the cricketing world began to believe that Sangakkara could do the unthinkable. And when Thirimanne was dismissed with 44 overs remaining, the chance of Sangakkara scoring four hundreds back to back was almost inevitable. To his credit Sangakkara still batted for his team, still scored his runs at a rate of 130 per 100 balls faced, and sure enough got to three figures.
Tilakaratne also scored a hundred, largely forgotten though, next to Sanga’s effort. The pair put on a masterful stand of 195, that was capped off with a rapid 51 from Matthews, and saw Sri Lanka through to an unbeatable 363/9.
Sangakkara as he so deserves, will get most of the credit. He becomes the first player to score four hundreds at a World Cup, and has surely announced his retirement some 30 years too soon. This guy could bat on for years and still chalk up the personal milestones as frequently as he does.
Scotland were probably in awe too. That might explain their struggle to get close to the 363. That or 363 is a huge total and they never really had a chance. Kyle Coetzer, one player who might’ve given the total a run was out second ball of the innings and from there Sri Lanka just eased through the motions. Freddie Coleman and Preston Mommsen scored half centuries to add respectability to the total, but no more.
We thought Mommsen was in for a big performance, and although he didn’t pay out, his innings was one of the few standouts in another disappointing batting effort from the Scots. Kulasekara and Chameera were the most successful bowlers with three wickets apiece.
Kumar’s quest for 5 begins on 18 March against a yet to be determined opponent.
Sri Lanka 363 for 9 (Sangakkara 124, Dilshan 104, Mathews 51, Davey 3-63) beat Scotland 215 (Coleman 70, Mommsen 60, Kulasekara 3-20, Chameera 3-51) by 148 runs
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