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When you think of cricketers who have found success in pairs, your mind immediately shifts to the likes of England’s Stuart Broad and James Anderson or India’s spin twins Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. The other names that come to mind are Sri Lanka’s batting stalwarts Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. The pair have etched themselves into the history books of Sri Lankan cricket as two of the greatest players from the island nation. The pair left their lasting benchmark on the cricketing world in Colombo in 2006 when they put South Africa to the sword with a mammoth 624-run partnership.
Electing to bat first, the Proteas were put under pressure from the start, being bundled out for 169. They started cautiously before Dilhara Fernando removed openers Herschelle Gibbs and Andrew Hall. From there, it was free-fall as Farvez Mahroof and Muttiah Muralitharan ran through the batting lineup with four wickets apiece. South Africa, though, were handed a glimmer of hope after Dale Steyn removed both Sri Lanka openers in just four overs, with the score at 14 for 2.
In walked skipper Jayawardene, with Sangakkara already at the crease, intending to repair the Lankan innings. What followed was nothing short of history. Sangakkara was tentative in his start, being dropped at gully and then being bowled off a no-ball off Steyn’s bowling off successive balls, batting on just seven and eight runs respectively. After that, however, the pair gave no chances at all and motored along to finish Day 1 on 128 for 2, just 49 runs behind the Proteas’ score, with both batters reaching their half-centuries as well.
Day 2 of this Test match is remembered as one of the most iconic batting marathons the sport has witnessed, with Sangakkara and Jayawardene batting throughout the day, scoring 357 runs in the 86 overs that were bowled. Sangakkara reached his century off just 116 balls in the first session, as their partnership crossed the 200-run mark. Soon after lunch, Jayawardene also reached the three-figure mark off 162 balls. The pair showed no signs of stopping, piling on even more misery on the hapless South African bowlers. Both batters reached their double centuries, with the Lankan Lions going strong at 485 for 2, as Sangakkara remained unbeaten on 229, and Jayawardene with him on 226. Day 3 wore on, and the pair continued from where they left off, as their partnership crossed the 500 and 600-run mark. Jayawardene notched up his triple-century off 491 balls, before Sangakkara finally fell for 287, edging one to wicketkeeper Mark Boucher off Hall’s bowling.
Jayawardene motored along to finish on 374, just 26 runs short of Brian Lara’s 400, but the headlines grouped him with Sangakkara as their 624-run stand became the highest partnership in first-class cricket history, a record which stands to this day. Sri Lanka declared at a mammoth 756 for 5, and won the game by an innings and 153 runs, with Muralitharan’s six-wicket haul seeing him finish with ten wickets in the match, despite South Africa’s vigilant rearguard putting up a score of 434.
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