Sri Lanka’s star Kamindu Mendis had a dream debut in Test cricket. Since playing his first Test in July 2022, Mendis has scored at least one fifty in each of his first six Test matches. On Wednesday, during the Test match against New Zealand in Galle, Mendis scored a century. With this, he set a record of scoring 50 or more runs in each of his first seven Test matches. This has only happened once before in the 147-year history of Test cricket. Last year, Pakistan’s Saud Shakeel became the first player to score 50 or more in each of his first seven Test matches. Now, Kamindu Mendis has joined him.
Before them, India’s Sunil Gavaskar, Pakistan’s Saeed Ahmed, West Indies’ Basil Butcher, and New Zealand’s Bert Sutcliffe all scored half-centuries in their first six Test matches. Thanks to Mendis’ century, Sri Lanka finished the first day of the Test against New Zealand with 302 runs for seven wickets. Sri Lanka’s score had dropped to 106 for four right after lunch, but Kamindu Mendis, who was Sri Lanka’s best player during their recent tour of England, helped his team recover with his brilliant batting.
Mendis mentioned that the team aimed to reach around 350 runs on Thursday. His all-rounder innings came to an end in the final over of the day when he was out for 114, caught in the first slip off Ajaz Patel’s bowling. Mendis said, “This century is special because it came on my home ground. I should have scored more, but there wasn’t much I could do about that delivery.”
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Known for his ability to bat and bowl with both hands, Kamindu is playing his seventh Test match. He has already scored more than 800 runs, including four centuries and four half-centuries. By tea, Sri Lanka had scored 178 runs for five wickets, and the team looked to be in trouble. However, a 103-run partnership between Kusal Mendis and Kamindu helped the team strengthen their position.
Kamindu has made over 800 runs in just 11 innings and is on his way to becoming the fastest Sri Lankan to reach 1,000 runs, a record currently held by Roy Dias. Before this Test, Kamindu batted at number seven, but now he’s moved up to number five. He often played with tailenders who would get out quickly, leaving him without a partner.