Sri Lankan becomes first to play 400 ODIs

It's number 400 for Jayasuriya

Cricinfo staff

October 4, 2007

When Sanath Jayasuriya took the field for the second ODI against England in Dambulla, he became the first cricketer to play 400 ODIs. Close on Jayasuriya's heels is Sachin Tendulkar, who is on 397, but has five more matches to play in the ongoing series against Australia. Tendulkar is the only active international player to have made his debut before Jayasuriya, both having done so in 1989.

Jayasuriya's exploits at the top of the order and his handy left-arm spin bowling has been particularly effective in the shorter version of the game: they have helped him amass over 12,000 runs and bag more than 300 wickets.

Twenty-two of Jaysuriya's 25 hundreds in ODIs have come in winning causes, and his record in victories indicate his match-winning ability. He's been Man of the Match on 45 occasions; only Sachin Tendulkar, with 55, has more.

His importance to Sri Lanka's fortunes can be gauged by the fact that he is Sri Lanka's leading run-getter in Tests, ODIs and Twenty20 internationals.

Jayasuriya's career summary indicates that he feasted against Bangladesh, England and India, but he hasn't enjoyed as much success against Australia or South Africa, averaging in the early 20s against both. Surprisingly, he has done reasonably well in Australia and South Africa, but has struggled against both those teams when playing at home.

As a bowler he has excellent numbers against West Indies and New Zealand, while Bangladesh have struggled to figure him out as well.

Jayasuriya is 38 years old now, but age has not deterred him, and since 2006 he's the third-highest run-getter for Sri Lanka in ODIs. Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara are the only ones ahead of him, indicating that despite having proven talent in their ranks, the team still relies heavily on Jayasuriya.

© Cricinfo

	Email

NEW FANTASY: India v Australia Test series - prizes to be won Enter now - series starts October 9     Watch our daily Cricinfo SportsCenter news round-ups Available on Cricinfo.tv     Live scores, news & ball-by-ball commentary on your phone Cricinfo Mobile

Matches

Sri Lanka v England at Dambulla

Players/Umpires

Sanath Jayasuriya

Series/Tournaments

England tour of Sri Lanka

Teams

Sri Lanka