#OTD Mahela Jayawardene featured in his last Test fixture

Mahela Jayawardene's final Test appearance

On this day, eight years ago, legendary Mahela Jayawardene played the last Test match of his illustrious career. The occasion was the second Test of the home series against Pakistan at Colombo.

Pakistan take a nominal lead in first innings

Jayawardene taking on Pakistan bowling

Sri Lanka's decision to bat first was vindicated with Upul Tharanga and Kaushal Silva added 79 runs for the first wicket. However, the experienced Kumar Sangakkara and Jayawardene could not provide substantial contributions. 

Tharanga fell short of eight runs of his second red-ball century. In the middle-order, skipper Angelo Mathews scored 34. Then, the left-arm pacer Junaid Khan triggered a collapse for the hosts to finish on 320 by picking a five-for. 

In response, Pakistan posted 332 on the board, with the knocks from Sarfaraz Ahmed (103) and Ahmed Shehzad (58). Sri Lanka's ace spinner Rangana Herath ran down the Pakistan lineup with nine wickets under his belt. 

Jayawardene ends his Test career on a high

Jayawardene stitched a 107-run stand with Sangakkara

Trailing by 12 runs, Tharanga delivered a steady start to Sri Lanka by hitting 45 off 63 deliveries. Afterwards, Sangakkara (59) and Jayawardene (54) added 107 runs for the third wicket, to further propel the team to a competitive score. 

Mathews remained unbeaten on 43, as Sri Lanka were dismissed for 282 and set a target of 271 runs for Pakistan. 

Then, Dhammika Prasad and Herath dismissed the Pakistan top-order batters in quick succession. Only Asad Shafiq (32) and Sarfaraz (55) could display resistance, as Pakistan were all-out for 165. 

Herath finished with his career-best figures of 14/184 in red-ball cricket to secure a 2-0 series whitewash for Sri Lanka. 

Jayawardene finished his Test career with 11814 runs in 149 matches, comprising 34 centuries. 

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