 "Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis leaves the field after losing his wicket to New Zealand's Ajaz Patel on Day 1 of the first Test in Galle on Wednesday. AP")
Sri Lanka all-rounder Kamindu Mendis on Wednesday joined an elite group of cricketers that includes the legendary Sunil Gavaskar, with his half-century on Day 1 of the first Test against New Zealand in Galle . With the half-century, Mendis has now scored 50 runs or more in each of the first seven Tests he has played. Pakistan’s Saud Shakeel was the first player to do so.
Kamindu Mendis surpasses Sunil Gavaskar
Mendis thus surpassed Sunil Gavaskar, who had registered 50-plus scores in each of his first six Tests. Other batters to have achieved Gavaskar’s feat include Pakistan’s Saeed Ahmed, Basil Butcher of West Indies and Bert Sutcliffe of New Zealand.
Mendis went onto score 114, propelling Sri Lanka to 305 in the first innings. That was his fourth Test century since making his Test debut in July 2022 in a match against Australia on home turf. The 25 year-old, as a result, became the fastest batter from Sri Lanka to score four centuries in Tests. He achieved the feat in just 11 innings, beating the record of Michael Vandort, who had taken 21 innings.
In his Test debut against Australia in 2022, the left-handed batter scored 61 off 137 balls in the first innings. He the scored two centuries against Bangladesh during Sri Lanka’s tour of the country earlier this year, before scoring his fourth Test ton during a match against England in August.
Rescue act from Mendis
Sri Lanka were reeling at 106/4 at one stage, but Mendis, who came into bat at number five, forged a 72-run stand with Angelo Mathews and a century-run stand with Kusal Mendis revived Sri Lanka’s hopes in the first innings. At the time of writing this report, New Zealand were 219/4 in the first innings on Day 2, trailing Sri Lanka by 86 runs.