KEY POINTS:
Someone forgot to tell Sanath Jayasuriya that old batsmen are expected to get out of the game before either their reputation or their dental work suffers.
The veteran Sri Lankan left-hander yesterday offered a dramatic reminder of his firepower when he blasted a half-century off just 32 balls in the fourth one-dayer, in the process eclipsing the world record for the number of career sixes struck in one-day internationals.
At 37 years of age, and in probably his last visit to Auckland as an international cricketer, the little strokemaker produced a memorable farewell appearance, bludgeoning seven fours and five mighty sixes in his eventual total of 70.
When he was out, caught at long-leg after trying to clear the boundary hoardings for a sixth time, he'd become the most prolific striker of sixes in one-day international history, overtaking the mark of 217 held by Pakistan's Shahid Afridi.
Jayasuriya battled through a couple of awkward moments in the early stanzas before launching his assault at the start of Michael Mason's sixth over, smashing three consecutive sixes off balls No 4, 5 and 6 the last of which landed in the Taverners Stand.
Having scored 19 of 20 runs off that over, Jayasuriya then dismissed Mark Gillespie's first ball of the innings with an arrogant flick over backward square for six, before helping himself to 14 runs and yet another six - off Andre Adams.
Jayasuriya held the throttle wide open as Sri Lanka plundered 49 runs between the 11th and 13th overs, in an effort that raised some questions about the stability of the New Zealand attack.
Mason conceded 23 runs off his first five overs, but when he was removed from the attack at the end of his sixth the Sri Lankan run-rate had improved out of sight, as had the fielding in the crowd.
Jayasuriya was at his most destructive against Mason, taking 33 runs off 16 balls, but also found a certain fondness for Adams' medium-pace and was just starting to get his eye in against Gillespie when he chanced his arm once too often.
It's not the first time he's annihilated a bowling attack; against Pakistan at Singapore in 1996 he blitzed a half-century off just 17 balls (still the fastest in ODI history), and brought up his hundred off 48.
Yesterday's effort proved the spark was still there and Jayasuriya isn't quite ready to trade his trusty Kookaburra for the boardroom, or a career as a referee.
Before that, there's the small matter of his fifth World Cup.
Most ODI sixes
222 Sanath Jayasuriya
217 Shahid Afridi (Pakistan)
168 Sourav Ganguly (India)
154 Sachin Tendulkar (India)
153 Chris Cairns (New Zealand)
