And never did things seem more likely to go horribly wrong than when star batsman Mahela Jayawardene suffered what can only be described as catastrophic bat failure as he faced a ball from Shappoor Zadran.

The 37-year-old, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest players of the last generation, was playing a straightforward defensive shot when the willow completely snapped in two.

Thankfully he wasn't trying to smash one over the ropes - if so, it doesn't bear thinking what might have happened to the bat.

No harm done, though - a new bat was rushed out to the middle, and Jayawardene ended up making what proved to be a match-winning century as Sri Lanka reached their 233-run target with a nailbiting two balls to spare.

(Yahoo Eurosport)