Cricket: Sri Lankan captain scores 374 as records tumble

Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene walks off after being bowled for 374. Picture / Reuters

COLOMBO - Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene scored a magnificent 374 and helped break the record for the highest partnership in test cricket on the third day of the first test against South Africa yesterday.

Jayawardene's marathon innings, the highest score by a Sri Lankan and the fourth highest in the all-time individual innings list, guided his team to a formidable 756-5 declared.

The host's massive score, the second largest in history by Sri Lanka, left South Africa facing a daunting 587-run deficit with 6 1/2 sessions left in the game.

However, the tourists' long fight for survival started well with openers Andrew Hall making 13 not out and Jacques Rudolph 24 not out as they ended the day on 43 without loss.

Jayawardene compiled a 624-run stand spanning 160.3 overs with left-hander Kumar Sangakkara before Andrew Hall finally found the outside edge of the latter's bat with a full-length reverse-swinging delivery.

The previous 576-run record set by compatriots Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama against India in 1997 was broken as wicketkeeper Mark Boucher conceded four byes down the leg side off the bowling of left-arm spinner Nicky Boje.

Celebrated with firecrackers around the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, the new milestone was reached with Jayawardene on 278 and Sangakkara on 273. The partnership was also the highest stand in first-class cricket.

When he was finally bowled by an Andre Nel delivery that kept low, Jayawardene, 29, who also passed 6000 test runs during his innings, had faced 572 balls and hit a total of 43 boundaries and one six.

His elegant innings was all the more remarkable for the fact that he did not offer South Africa's fielders a single chance and was only rarely beaten, his biggest scare before his eventual downfall being a leg before wicket appeal from Makhaya Ntini that was slipping down the leg side.

The crowd had swollen throughout the afternoon as spectators sensed an opportunity to watch Jayawardene break Brian Lara's record test score of 400. But the carnival atmosphere was punctured when his off stump was knocked back shortly after South Africa took the second new ball.

The previous highest score by a Sri Lankan was the 340 scored by Jayasuriya against India in 1997 in Colombo.

Jayawardene and Sangakkara also became only the second pair in test history to score 250s in the same innings after Gary Sobers and Conrad Hunte against Pakistan in 1957-58.

Sangakkara's 287, also a personal best after his 270 against Zimbabwe in 2004, spanned a total of 457 deliveries and included 35 boundaries.

Middle order batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan, forced to wait more than 11 hours with his pads on in the dressing room, assisted Jayawardene with an industrious 45 during a fourth-wicket stand that yielded 113 runs.

Paceman Dale Steyn proved the most successful bowler, claiming three for 129 from 26 overs, but it was left-arm spinner Nicky Boje who provided the greatest threat throughout the innings.

Boje finished wicketless while conceding 221 runs from 65 overs of hard toil.

Top 11 test innings

* 400no Brian Lara (WIS) v ENG, St John's, 2004
* 380 M Hayden (AUS) v ZIM, Perth, 2003
* 375 Brian Lara (WIS) v ENG, St John's, 1994
* 374 Mahela Jayawardene (SRI) v RSA, Colombo, 2006
* 365no Garfield Sobers (WIS) v PAK, Kingston, 1957-58
* 364 Len Hutton (ENG) v AUS, Oval, 1938
* 340 Sanath Jayasuriya (SRI) v IND, Colombo, 1997
* 337 Hanif Mohammad (PAK) v WIS, Bridgetown, 1957-58
* 336no Wally Hammond (ENG) v NZL, Auckland, 1932-33
* 334no Mark Taylor (AUS) v PAK, Peshawar, 1998
* 334 Don Bradman (AUS) v ENG, Leeds, 1930

- REUTERS