Jayasuriya set to establish more batting records in Pakistan

by SA'ADI THAWFEEQ

Saturday 01, November 1997


Sri Lanka's master blaster Sanath Jayasuriya, who is carving a niche in the annals of cricket history with his explosive and cultured batting in both one-dayers and Tests, is within sight of a rare batting record for the current year.

Jayasuriya is in Pakistan for the Wills Quadrangular tournament to celebrate the host country's golden jubilee year of independence, and requires only 18 runs to become the first batsman for 1997 to top 1000 runs in both Tests and one-day internationals.

The left-handed opener was the first to score 1000 Test runs this year - a feat he achieved during the home series against India in August. He is so far the only batsman to pass this figure in Tests for the year, although team mate Aravinda de Silva is hotly in pursuit, requiring a further seven runs. However, De Silva will have to await the three-Test series in India starting later this month to accomplish that target.

Jayasuriya's current tally in one-day matches for the year is 982, which places him third, behind Indians, Sourav Ganguly (1076) and Mohammad Azharuddin (1006), the two batsmen to top 1000 runs in one-day internationals for the calendar year.

De Silva, is also in line to join Jayasuriya for the race to 1000 one-day runs this year. The Sri Lanka vice-captain requires a further 19 runs during the Wills Quadrangular tournament, which also features West Indies, South Africa and Pakistan.

There is little doubt that both Jayasuriya and De Silva will achieve the rare double of 1000 runs in both Tests and one-day internationals before the year is out. There batting has been the cornerstone on which many of Sri Lanka's one-day victories have been built on during the year.

Apart from the two Sri Lankan run-machines, Indians Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid are also on track to achieve the rare double of 1000 runs in Tests and one-dayers in a calendar year.

Indian captain Tendulkar has 801 runs in Tests and 828 runs in one-day matches, while Dravid's figures stand at 680 runs and 921 runs respectively. They will have the opportunity to reach their respective milestones during the three-Test home series against Sri Lanka later this month and, in the four-nation Sharjah tournament and the three one-dayers against Sri Lanka in December.

In the Wills Quadrangular starting today, Pakistan front-line batsman Ijaz Ahmed requires 62 runs to reach 1000 one-day runs in the current calendar year.


Source: The Daily News

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Date-stamped : 25 Feb1998 - 18:58