da dobrowin： Sanath Jayasuriya, whose 107 made him the oldest centurion in one-day internationals, says he is happy to be scoring runs for Sri Lanka
da roleta： Sa'adi Thawfeeq in Dambulla28-Jan-2009
He is nearing 40, but Sanath Jayasuriya is still putting his hand up for Sri Lanka © AFP
Sanath Jayasuriya, whose 107 made him the oldest centurion in one-day internationals, says he is happy to be scoring runs for Sri Lanka but sidestepped discussion over his future. Asked whether he would continue till the 2011 World Cup, he said: “I don’t know, let’s see how it goes.”Jayasuriya, now 39 years and 212 days old, broke Geoffrey Boycott’s record with his 28th century. Boycott was 39 years and 51 days when he scored a hundred against Australia in Sydney in 1979. Jayasuriya was unaware about the record, but nonetheless pleased to continue performing at the highest level.”Although I am getting old, if I can get more runs on the board that’s the key thing,” he said. “I always want to play for my country and perform. Sometimes you don’t play that well and when you play well you need to get more runs on the board. That’s the goal I always think of whenever I get the opportunity.”Jayasuriya, named the Man of the Match, battled the hot conditions during the innings to record the second century at the venue. “I was struggling a bit today because it was very hot outside. What I wanted to do was bat for the first 10-15 overs and then carry on for a longer period which I did,” he said. “The others batted around me and put some runs on the board.”His performance, though, was the only bright spot in a disappointing start for the hosts to the five-ODI series. “India bowled really well in the morning. We knew it would seam around. Our experience was that the wicket would do a lot but it was not the case today. It would have been ideal had we got some more runs on the board. We need to field well and take those catches also.”During his innings, Jayasuriya went past 13,000 ODI runs, the first to reach the mark after Sachin Tendulkar. “You cannot think of records and play cricket, it is difficult. I am happy to have achieved the milestone. Had we won this contest I would have been happier.”It is seldom Sri Lanka finish on the losing side when Jayasuriya scores a century – only three have come in defeats. “It is sad that we couldn’t win the match despite my scoring a century. We performed very well in the recent series leading up to today’s match,” he said. “We have four more matches to go and we should be able to turn it around in the next few games.”
