Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara (right) looks on as Lasith Malinga (left) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (centre) share a light moment at the Sydney Cricket Ground during a training session yesterday. Sri Lanka face South Africa in the quarter-final at the 2015 Cricket World Cup in Sydney tomorrow. (AFP)

Reuters/Sydney

Kumar Sangakkara is working as hard to improve his game in his final one-day tournament as he did when he first broke into the Sri Lanka team a decade and a half ago, said chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya.
Sangakkara’s form at the World Cup has been little short of sensational and is a big part of Sri Lanka’s run to the quarter-finals, where they will meet South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground tomorrow. Unsurprisingly, Jayasuriya would like him to continue beyond the current tournament, after which the 37-year-old plans to retire from the 50-over format.
In Sri Lanka’s last pool match against Scotland, the elegant lefthander became the first batsman to score centuries in four successive one-day internationals and secured the World Cup record for most dismissals by a wicketkeeper.
“Unbelievable,” Jayasuriya told reporters at the SCG yesterday. “It’s one of the rarest things you can see, him playing four in a row. I’m lucky to be here to watch all four innings. I’m very happy and what I want, as chairman of selectors, is for him to continue his form right throughout the World Cup.”
Described by Australia captain Michael Clarke as one of, if not, the greatest ever batsmen, Sangakkara earlier in the tournament became only the second player behind Sachin Tendulkar to score 14,000 ODI runs. While Sangakkara has been resolute about his decision to retire from ODIs, Jayasuriya believed he still had plenty of batting left in him and was hoping for a change of heart.
“I would love him to keep playing. He can go on longer. It all depends on him,” the 1996 World Cup winner said. “The way he’s playing is really good. It’s confidence for the boys also and all the players are playing really well too.
“Since he came into the side in 2000 he has been working really hard, his keeping, his batting and he wants to improve his game every day. That’s what he he’s doing even when he’s playing his last one-day series. He’s doing his best all the time, he’s doing his basics right and he wants to do well in the middle. I would love him to carry on for another few years, the way he’s playing ... It’s all in his hands.”
Tomorrow, it is South Africa’s bowlers who will have the unenviable task of bringing an end to Sangakkara’s purple patch with the bat. South Africa coach Russell Domingo confessed they had been partly looking in hope to the law of averages ahead of the quarter-final in Sydney. “He’s in the form of his life,” Domingo said. “He’s got four hundreds and you’ve got to think that there’s a lower score just around the corner.”
Meanwhile, left-hander Jayasuriya certainly gave opposition coaches plenty of headaches, having revolutionised the art of opening a one-day innings with his blistering approach at the top of the order during the 1996 World Cup.
But with that aggressive style now commonplace the 45-year-old said the game had changed greatly since his heyday. “I think it’s different now. Things have changed—the way of thinking, the rules, the advantage (balance) between bowlers and batsmen has changed in the last 15 years. 1996 was completely different—then it was four in the ring, now it’s five in the ring. We have powerplays at different times.  
“It’s good for both sides, bowlers and batters, but always challenging. It’s a good way of playing cricket.”
However, Jayasuriya did see similarities between Sri Lanka’s 1996 side and the current team. “The similarities are that we had Arjuna (Ranatunga) and Aravinda (de Silva)in the middle order and this team has Kumar and Mahela (Jayawardene) and Angelo Mathews. We had Asanka Gurusinha too.  
“We got the license to play our natural game at the top (of the order) and we had a very good batting line-up in the middle.  It’s similar now, we’ve got two good openers and three solid batsmen in the middle.”

Herath likely to be fit to face Proteas
Sydney: Sri Lanka’s front-line spinner Rangana Herath is recovering well and looks likely to face South Africa in tomorrow’s World Cup quarter-final at Sydney Cricket Ground, chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya said.
Herath, 36, split the webbing between two fingers on his bowling hand trying to take a return chance off Jos Buttler in a thumping defeat of England on March 1.
The left-armer missed the last two pool matches against Australia and Scotland but the stitches have been removed from the wound and he will be given until training today to prove his fitness.
“Rangana is recovering fast and I hope he will be alright,” Jayasuriya told reporters beside the nets at the SCG. “The stitches have been taken off and he’ll be ready for the match. That’s what I’m thinking, it will depend on today and tomorrow, probably tomorrow.”
The Sri Lankans have been bedevilled by injury problems at this World Cup but all-rounder Angelo Matthews has recovered from an Achilles issue and will lead the side tomorrow.
Leg-spinning all-rounder Seekkuge Prasanna was brought into the squad, effectively as a stand-in for Rangana, and took 1-77 in the loss to Australia last week at the SCG, a ground which has a tradition of providing some turn for spinners.
Rangana has taken three wickets at a cost of 49 runs in his previous two ODI matches at the SCG but Jayasuriya said spin bowling would not necessarily be crucial to Sri Lanka’s chances of reaching the semi-finals for the fourth straight World Cup. “We have fast bowlers, we have spinners, we don’t have any concrete plans, we’ll just stick to the basics,” he said.