SUNIL JAYASIRI 
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Sangakkara seeks win in 100th Test
A hugely proud Kumar Sangakkara hopes Sri Lanka will celebrate his 100th Test appearance with a series-levelling victory over Australia in the final match in Colombo from Friday.
“It's a great honour to have represented my country for a period of time, and also a great honour to play 100 Test matches,” Sangakkara told reporters ahead of his landmark match at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC).
“It's not often that a player gets that opportunity and I'm very, very proud and also very privileged to be given the opportunity to represent my country and my people for so long.
“But the most important thing is to contribute as much as I can to the side winning games. It's nice to participate, but you want to say to your team-mates and others that we are winners.
“That is what everyone wants, go out there and win matches. It's what the whole team is chasing at the moment, to try to win and be the best.” Sangakkara, who turns 34 next month, will be the fifth Sri Lankan to play a century of Tests after Muttiah Muralitharan (132 matches), Mahela Jayawardene (121), Chaminda Vaas (111) and Sanath Jayasuriya (110).
The elegant left-hander has provided substance and stature to Sri Lanka's batting along with good friend Jayawardene since his debut against South Africa in Galle in 2000.
His 8,572 runs in 99 Tests at an average of 55.66 with 25 hundreds are second in his country's all-time list, behind Jayawardene's 9,801 runs from 121 matches.
Sangakkara said his goal was to compile 10,000 Test runs and score 30 centuries before he hung up his boots, but retirement is still far from his mind.
Sangakkara, who gave up the captaincy after the World Cup in April to concentrate on his batting, said his successor Tillakaratne Dilshan was working hard to improve the team's fortunes.
But he felt a lot still depended on how the senior players performed.
“The results will come but the senior guys have to keep putting their hands up and keep performing, which will allow the newcomers to perform even better”, he said. (AFP)
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