Jayasuriya - I wanted to play despite my injury

There was a touch of the heroic about a tired Sanath Jayasuriya when he came down to talk to pressmen shortly after he had led Sri Lanka to a crushing eight-wicket win over Pakistan. The southpaw slammed 102 and deservedly walked away with the man of the match award. What adds gloss to his knock is the fact that he dislocated a shoulder recently and was not even a sure starter for this game until late yesterday.

In scoring his 13th ODI hundred Jayasuriya also became the second Sri Lankan (after Aravinda de Silva) and the eight cricketer overall to score 8000 runs in the shorter form of the game.

"Pakistan are a great side with great fast bowlers, and though I had pain in my shoulder I wanted to play for my country. I wasn't really 100 per cent fit but I was keen to play," said the skipper, earning the applause of many for his commitment to the Sri Lankan cause.

Speaking of his innings, Jayasuriya said in his typical understated fashion: "Even though my shoulder was a bit sore I think I played well today. Maybe in different conditions if I was fully fit I might have done even better." The captain however, was quick to add, "Aravinda (de Silva) is an experienced campaigner and has played many great innings."

On the eve of the match Jayasuriya, although certain to play, suggested that he would not bowl unless the team really needed him. Despite his team being in a good position all along, Jayasuriya did bring himself on to bowl, sending down three overs for fifteen runs. "Upul (Chandana) didn't bowl too well today and I felt I should bowl. My shoulder was still hurting though and I probably shouldn't have bowled."

Jayasuriya's counterpart, Waqar Younis, was understandably critical of the performance of his top order. "This is the third tournament in a row where our top order had done badly. We knew that we had to keep wickets in hand in the first 15 overs but could not do so," said the disappointed Pakistan captain.

With a touch of a threat in his voice, he added: "We have to make some changes for the Test series that's coming up. Maybe we'll bring in some youngsters."

Waqar also stressed on the fact that Pakistan were without their star batsman. "Inzamam is a world class batsman and obviously we missed him. He's done well for Pakistan over the years and when he's not playing there's a big hole in the team," said Waqar.

On the verbal exchange between Shahid Afridi and Aravinda de Silva out in the middle, Waqar said: "It was just something that happened in the heat of the moment. That is something that happens in cricket. It was nothing personal and I don't want to say any more about it."

In short, Waqar was not terribly pleased with his team's performance, and that is not surprising given that Pakistan have virtually been knocked out of a major tournament on the first day.