Cricket's Most Remarkable Centuries: ICC World Cup hundreds that ended in defeat
In the history of the World Cup, there are several instances to recount when batters scored scintillating centuries but their teams failed to utilise their performances.
3. Mahela Jayawardene’s 103 against India in 2011
Sri Lanka was one of the most formidable teams in the 2011 World Cup. Following their comfortable five-wicket win over New Zealand in Colombo, they qualified for the final at the Wankhede Stadium. In the decider game, they met India, who came to play the contest after beating Pakistan in the semi-final in Mohali. On a special day, luck favoured Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara as he won the toss against his counterpart MS Dhoni and opted to bat first.
Following the slow start from top-order batters, Mahela Jayawardene utilized his experience and played some exquisite strokes against Indian bowlers. The veteran stitched some important partnerships with middle-order batters and took his team to a fine total of 275. Jayawardene hit a century on a huge day and became the sixth batter to rack up a ton in the World Cup finals.
The star Sri Lanka batter went back to the pavilion with his unbeaten knock of 103 off 88. However, it was India’s day in the end as they pocketed the game by six wickets and clinched the coveted trophy for the second time. Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni played vital innings of 97 (122) and 91 (79), respectively, and made major contributions to their team’s historic triumph.
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