It was on the 7th of October in 2000 that Yuvraj Singh rocked the cricket world with a sizzling 84 in 80 balls against Australia in the quarterFinal of the ICC KnockOut Trophy. That was his second match in international cricket and he won the Man of the match award for his effort. For his next Man of the match award, the hard hitting Punjab southpaw had to wait almost ten months. Overcoming an extended run of low scores, Yuvraj Singh made a career best 98 not out against Sri Lanka in the Coca-Cola Cup.

India began their final league encounter against the hosts with their backs to the wall. They desperately needed to beat Sri Lanka to keep their hopes of reaching the final alive. When Sanath Jayasuriya won the toss and put India in to bat, it was imperative that the openers did a good job. In keeping with the run of low scores made by the Indian openers, India got off to a bad start, losing Virender Shewag off the very first ball of the day's play. There was more to follow as Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Hemang Badani were back in the confines of the pavilion with just 38 runs on the board.

Enter Yuvraj Singh. With the situation promising little, he had a quiet chat with Rahul Dravid and went about tackling the bowling. A shaky start was straightened out by a one-handed drive through the covers that rocketed to the fence. That shot signaled the beginning of an innings that would change India's fortunes.

While Dravid kept one end going with some solid batting, Yuvraj slowly but surely grew in confidence. When the ball was on his pads it disappeared very quickly to the on side. For the best part of his innings however, Yuvraj had to be content stroking the ball into the gaps for singles. When the ball was there for the drive, Yuvraj was quick to latch onto it, playing more on line than anything else. Even if the ball was not right up there for the drive, the southpaw went through with the shot, often through the line and on the up.

Sizzling cover drives were the order of the day, with the field being spread every time there was a bit of width outside the off stump. Despite a liking for the off side, Yuvraj's shot of the day was a six over the on side. Chaminda Vaas, returning for a late spell, let go a loosener on the middle and off stump. Yuvraj, walking down the wicket and across the stumps sent the ball sailing over midwicket for a six.

With the overs winding down, Yuvraj was unfortunate to end up 98 not out. Needing a boundary off the last ball of the innings to complete a maiden ton, Yuvraj could only make two. Alas, the southpaw was left with 98 (143 mins, 110 balls, 6 fours, 1 six) when the innings ended.

Yuvraj was the matchwinner, the Man of the match and easily the Top Performer on the day.