Saturday 14 / September / 2024
London: Sri Lanka, who will take on England in the second Test at the Lords beginning Thursday, will have high hopes from their left-hand batter Kamindu Mendis, who has an average of 92.16 in the past four Test matches.
Despite his promising performance since his debut in 2022, Mendis had to wait another two years to return to Test cricket for Sri Lanka. Throughout this period, he remained dedicated and persistent, readying himself for his next opportunity.
As per the ICC, at the end of the first match against England in Manchester, Kamindu Mendis' Test average stood at a whopping 92.16, second only to Sir Don Bradman for any player who has scored more than 500 runs.
Mendis had shown signs of brilliance, stepping in for the Covid-positive Dhananjaya de Silva against Australia in Galle. He scored 61 in his first outing, helping Sri Lanka win by an innings and 39 runs.
Mendis is currently the second-highest run-scorer in the ongoing series with 125 runs in the two innings which has come at a strike rate of 60.10 and at an average of 62.50.
"I knew that the batting was packed, but what I tried to do was to do as best as I could in the chance that I had. I had to exit the team after that, but I don't see that as a mistake," KamindU Mendis said as quoted by ICC.
"You have to take various decisions to balance a team, and I came into that side only because Dhananjaya had Covid. When he returned, I had to make way. That's fair. Even though I didn't get to play, I was in the squad and travelling with the team, pretty much every tour. Going on so many tours with experienced players on those tours also helped me play well in my first few innings," the batter added.
England won the first test of the series. Recapping the first match, Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first. Struggling at 113/7, it was knocks from skipper Dhananjaya de Silva (74 in 84 balls, with eight fours) and Milan Rathnayake (72 in 135 balls, with six fours and two sixes) that pushed SL to 236/10.
Chris Woakes (3/32) and Shoaib Bashir (3/55) were the top bowlers for England.
Despite a poor start and a tricky score of 67/3, fine performances from middle-order batters Joe Root (42 in 57 balls with four boundaries), Harry Brook (56 in 73 balls with four boundaries), and centurion Jamie Smith (111 in 148 balls, with eight fours and a six) helped England attain a lead of 122 runs as they were bundled out for 358 runs.
Ashitha Fernando (4/103) and Prabhat Jayasuriya (3/85) delivered fine spells for Sri Lanka.
In their second innings, Sri Lanka once again found themselves in a troublesome position, with the score reading 95/4. However, veterans Angelo Matthews (65 in 145 balls, with two fours and a six), and Dinesh Chandimal (79 in 119 balls, with seven fours) formed a 78-run partnership to push SL towards a lead. Later, keeping his fine form, Kamindu Mendis slammed his second Test ton in five innings, scoring 113 in 183 balls, with 15 fours and a six. SL put up a total of 326/10, giving them a respectable lead of 204 runs.
Woakes and Matthew Potts (3/47) took three wickets each to lead England's bowling charts.
In reply, England was in a tight position at 70/3. However, Root's calm and composed half-century (62* in 128 balls with two fours) and solid contributions from Brook (32 in 68 balls, with three fours) and Smith (39* in 48 balls, with four boundaries and a six) took England to a five-wicket win.
England took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
