In just his fifth match for USA after making a late career switch from Sri Lanka, 34-year-old Shehan Jayasuriya put a stamp on USA's eight-wicket win over Canada with a maiden ODI century. 

Photo credit: ICC

By Peter Della Penna (Twitter/X @PeterDellaPenna)
 
In just his fifth ODI for USA after making the switch from Sri Lanka, 34-year-old Shehan Jayasuriya produced a career-best knock by making an unbeaten 113 off 111 balls as part of an unbroken 187-run third-wicket partnership alongside Sai Mukkamalla that took USA to a comfortable eight-wicket win over Canada on Saturday at Maple Leaf CC in King City, Ontario. Set a 45-over target of 232, USA lost both openers inside of 11 overs before Mukkamalla and Jayasuriya calmly marched USA over the line with 5.1 overs to spare in a match. 
 
The match was played with no fans in attendance after a decision taken by Cricket Canada on the eve of the start of the tri-series which also includes the Netherlands. The statement from Cricket Canada stated that all tickets would be refunded and the match closed off to the public “due to unforeseen circumstances”. The announcement came following a news report from national broadcaster CBC describing a drive-by shooting on Thursday at the home of Cricket Canada president Arvinder Khosa, the second time his home in British Columbia had been targeted in a drive-by shooting in less than a month. Sources have stated that all three teams have been provided enhanced security during the tour while there was a visibly increased police and security presence at King City on Saturday. 
 
The start of the match was delayed on Saturday morning by an hour and 45 minutes due to a wet outfield despite mostly dry conditions at the scheduled toss time. When umpires finally deemed the field ready for play, USA won the toss and chose to field first with five overs shaved off the originally scheduled contest. Two players were also making their ODI debuts for USA with Ehsan Adil coming into the lineup for his first official ODI after having previously made his T20I debut for USA against his former nation Pakistan during the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup while 17-year-old North Carolina fast bowler Ritvik Appidi was also given his first USA cap following an impressive run at the U-19 World Cup in January where he notably took the wicket of rising Indian teenage start Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. 
 
But by the end of the day it was Jayasuriya who had taken center stage for USA with seven fours and four sixes. USA’s chase got off to a modest start including the fall of both Smit and Monank Patel, who had moved up to open the batting after Shayan Jahangir was left out of the XI. Smit was the first to go for 8, beaten for pace on a full delivery from Zahid Shirzad to be given lbw at 11 for 1 in the fourth over. Monank lasted until the second ball of the 11^th when he edged Shirzad behind for 22 as a back of a length delivery was fended to Saad Bin Zafar at slip who lunged to his right for a sharp catch to make it 48 for 2. 
 
However, Shirzad soon turned from hero to goat in the field for Canada after he followed the two wickets by dropping Jayasuriya on a straightforward chance on 41 in the 17^th over. Jayasuriya had started the over by launching left-arm spinner Sukhjinder Singh over long-on for his first six of the day. Two balls later, Sukhjinder dragged his length wider outside off to force Jayasuriya into reaching out for another heave that came off a thick edge and floated toward Shirzad on the ring at short third man. But what should have been a straightforward chance slightly above head height was instead palmed clumsily behind as Jayasuriya took a single to move to 42. Two overs later, Jayasuriya gave a painful reminder of the miss by smashing Sukhjinder over long-off for his second six to bring up a half-century off 49 balls and simultaneously a half-century partnership with Mukkamalla as well as the USA 100. 
 
Mukkamalla started his innings at the other end mostly tapping ones and twos before latching onto Harsh Thaker’s offspin in the 25^th to rock back and yank a half-tracker over midwicket for six. Jayasuriya continued the aggression in the following over against Zafar, belting him over extra cover for six before charging down the wicket in the 28^th to deposit Zafar over long-off for his fourth six. Jayasuriya powered a sharp drive past left-arm pacer Kaleem Sana in the 29^th for a boundary to bring up the century partnership between the pair, then charged down the wicket once again to the part-time spin of Pargat Singh for another straight boundary to move into the 90s. 
 
As Jayasuriya inched his way through the 90s, Mukkamalla continued passing landmarks at the other end. A single tapped off of the part-time spin of Matthew Spoors just after the 33-over drinks break brought up the right-hander’s half-century off 61 balls. Another punch for one to the cover sweeper off Spoors in the 36^thraised the 150-run partnership between Mukkamalla and Jayasuriya. The left-hander then took a single to end the over to put him on 99 and he eased the first ball of the 37^th with an open face to deep third off Shirzad to bring up three figures off 104 balls, having surpassed a previous ODI career-best of 96 made against Pakistan in 2019 while still representing Sri Lanka. 
 
“I’m very happy about the hundred,” Jayasuriya said in the post-match presentation after accepting his Player of the Match award. “I know my wife is more happy than me.”
 
Jayasuriya’s final boundary was whipped through wide mid-on off Akhil Kumar in the 40^th over to bring USA to within one shot of victory. A tap and run single in the ring levelled the scores to bring Mukkamalla on strike, who then ended the match on the very next ball by flicking his seventh boundary over mid-on to finish 81 not out off 84 balls. Shirzad finished with 2 for 59 off nine overs while Sukhjinder was Canada’s least economical bowler, conceding 0 for 30 off four overs after he had Jayasuriya’s chance put down by Shirzad. 
 
Earlier in the day, Canada crawled out of the gates in the face of a disciplined new-ball attack presented by Saurabh Netravalkar and Adil, reaching 18 for 0 in six overs. It took the introduction of debutant Appidi for Canada to break loose as left-handed opener Yuvraj Samra tore into him for two fours and an elegant six over point in a 14-run over. After coming off briefly to switch ends, Appidi leaked another 10 in the 12^th over as the opening partnership between Samra and Ali Nadeem Abbasi crossed 50. 
 
Shubham Ranjane finally broke the partnership at 77 in the 17^th over when he enticed Samra into a drive well away from his body at a length delivery for a simple edge behind for 46. After going unrewarded in his four-over opening spell, Adil struck twice in his return to the attack. His first ODI victim as a USA bowler was Spoors, who was squared up by a length delivery and edged behind to Smit where a sharp catch was taken diving right for 24 to make it 123 for 3 after 25 overs. Abbasi swept Harmeet Singh for two to bring up a 65-ball half-century in the following over, but Adil snuffed out his innings for 51 in the 27^th as a leg-stump half-volley was loosely flicked to Sanjay Krishnamurthi at deep midwicket to make it 126 for 3. 
 
USA caught a fortunate break in the 32^nd when Thaker slipped and fell after his partner Pargat had turned down a single into the covers off Harmeet and a basic relay from Monank to Smit resulted in Thaker being run out for 5 while he lay on his haunches midway down the wicket to make it 141 for 4. Six balls later, Pargat became Appidi’s maiden ODI wicket when a short ball was pulled to Krishnamurthi at deep square leg for 10 to make it 143 for 5. Harmeet then got a deserved wicket in the 34^th when a quicker ball produced an edge behind off an attempted cut by Nicholas Kirton to remove the ex-captain for 3 at 149 for 6 to complete a middle-order slide of 8 for 3 across 12 balls. 
 
Milind Kumar came into the attack in place of Harmeet with Zafar in the middle and the matchup ploy worked for USA as Kumar defeated Zafar with an arm ball to trap him lbw for 7 to make it 159 for 7 in the 36^th. Adil then returned at the death for a third wicket, bouncing out Sukhjinder for 14 on an edged pull shot for Smit’s fourth catch of the day to make it 197 for 8 in the 42^nd. Akhil Kumar rallied the Canada tail, ending with 48 not out off 36 balls after entering at No. 7, including two sixes off Appidi in a 22-run final over. Yet Canada was still well below par even after the final burst. 
 
Adil finished with 3 for 27 off nine overs including two maidens. Appidi’s debut was far less impressive, ending with 1 for 75 off nine. Netravalkar went wicketless on the day despite a tight early spell and ended with 0 for 46 off nine. Ranjane took 1 for 28 off five overs to round out USA’s pace unit. Harmeet claimed 1 for 33 off his nine overs of left-arm spin while Milind had 1 for 18 off his four overs. 
 
USA returns to action on Monday when they face the Netherlands in the second match of the series. A win for USA will clinch a top-four spot in Cricket World Cup League Two, and with it a berth in the 2027 Cricket World Cup Qualifier. The top four teams in the Qualifier will advance to the 2027 World Cup to be held across South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.