Dilshan, Jayawardene set Centurion alight

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

CENTURION: Tillakaratne Dilshan continued from where he left off at the last ICC tournament, the World Twenty20 in England, when he blazed away to a brilliant hundred to see Sri Lanka to 319 for eight wickets and set hosts South Africa with a very challenging total to chase under lights in the lung-opener of the ICC Champions trophy played at the Centurion here on Tuesday.

Tillakaratne Dilshan cuts the ball in his dazzling knock of 106 in 92 balls

Dilshan made full use of South African captain Graeme Smith’s decision to invite Sri Lanka to bat first on a dry pitch to score his third one-day century.
His devastating innings was full of authentic and innovative cricket shots which included a six off a free hit off an Andy Morkel no-ball and 16 fours. On most occasions Dilshan does get carried away when he hits a couple of boundaries on the trot, but this time he talked to himself and showed a lot of discipline especially with his captain batting at the other end.
Big totals are all about building partnerships and Sri Lanka had two big ones. After the early dismissal of Sanath Jayasuriya for 10 in the third over, Dilshan and Sangakkara put on a magnificent 158 runs off 152 balls for the second wicket. Dilshan was the dominant partner reaching his fifty off 38 balls (10 fours) and bringing up his century off 87 balls (15 fours, 1 six).

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