Sanga, Mahela SSC toppers

Watching Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene bat together is a sublime experience. They play as if there isn't a worry in the world. Delicate flicks and cuts are played with consummate ease. Gaps are found effortlessly and boundaries almost struck at will. Their running between the wickets is smooth and runs are scored without any fuss. The telepathic understanding of each others' game is clearly noticeable when they bat together.
One such instance was their 193-run partnership for the third wicket against India at the Sinhalese Sports Club on Tuesday. In terms of runs made it pales in comparison to the mammoth 624 they stitched together against South Africa at this venue four years ago or even the 437 against Pakistan in Karachi in February 2009, but in terms of helping establish control over proceedings on the second day it was highly effective and also a joy to watch.
Late in their partnership they ran into each other while completing a single. It was the only jarring note in their 208-minute stand. The rare misunderstanding was dismissed with a hearty laugh by Jayawardene and Sangakkara after the run was completed safely. Nothing, it appears, comes between their camaraderie and it is not often that bowling attacks get to break their partnership cheaply.
On Tuesday, they established their 12th hundred-run partnership in Tests. The Sanga-Mahela show is what has allowed Sri Lanka to bat out opponents regularly and comfortably.
They flourished as a pair only after they became regulars in the Sri Lankan side. In school cricket, Sangakkara and Jayawardene didn't bat together as the former came from Kandy and the latter from Colombo. At the club level they faced each other with Jayawardene playing for the Sinhalese Sports Club and Sangakkara wearing Nondescript Cricket Club colours. Hence there are no stories of them shredding bowling attacks in tandem at the school level or at the junior level. Those who coached Sangakkara in school and at private academies talk about him as a highly talented batsman but his ability to bat for long hours isn't something they noticed when he was younger.
Unlike the case in other teams from sub-continent, there are no tales of disharmony between the two star batsmen. It's good for the team that the predecessor, Jayawardene, has no qualms about playing under the successor as vice-captain. They are almost the same age but rather than having bloated egos they possess the maturity that brings the best out of them.
Jayawardene said that he and Sangakkara have become much more attacking in their approach in recent times and that has helped them tame bowling attacks.
Sri Lankan have had batting giants like Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda de Silva and Marvan Attapattu to name a few, but both Sangakkara and Jayawardene have gone ahead. They have a total of 51 centuries between themselves in Tests. Over the first two days of play at the SSC it was largely the finesse of these two, which made viewing a pleasure during sessions when the bat dominated the ball.
Sangakarra took the aggressive approach on the second day. He found boundaries through short extra cover and then past mid-wicket in the first two balls of the day from Abhimanyu Mithun. The Sri Lankan skipper got within touching distance of his double hundred by cracking four boundaries off left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha. Shortly Sangakkara reached his seventh double century. Jayawardene, who has six double hundreds against his name, looked well set to add to his tally during his 244-minute stay. But it was not to be.
Sangakkara, first with Tharanha Paranavitana and then with Jayawardene build significant partnerships, while Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera took the total well past 600. Not for the first time, Sri Lanka's batting twins were at the heart of another grand total.