Tactics are a part and parcel of cricket contests and it’s necessary for outwitting the opposition. However, Dhananjaya de Silva’s weird tactics to declare early cost Kamindu Mendis his maiden double century in Test cricket on the second day of the second Test against New Zealand.
Sri Lanka continued their run-scoring spree from the first day of the Test despite Angelo Mathews falling early in the first session for 88. Dhanajaya de Silva’s 44 set up the stage for Kusal Mendis and Kamindu Mendis’ ton with the latter going strong even after Tea. The southpaw extracted regular boundaries amidst strike rotation and surpassed the 150-run mark on 229 balls. With the hosts inching near the 600-run mark following Kusal’s hundred, Dhanajaya de Silva’s inconsiderate strategy became the center of attention.
After Kusal reached a century in the 163rd over, Kamindu stepped down the ground on the fourth ball of the next over against Rachin Ravindra to slog a full ball over the ropes straight down the ground. The six helped Sri Lanka go past the 600-run mark with Kamindu unbridled at 182. Immediately after, the camera focused on the dressing room where captain Dhananjaya signaled the two batters to walk towards them as they were declaring. The southpaw was just 18 runs shy of his maiden double ton and the premature declaration ruminated with Rahul Dravid’s age-old declaration when Sachin Tendulkar was batting at 194*, sparking Twitterverse debates.
— Arijit Shanto (@ArijitShan18431) September 27, 2024
Fastest to 1000 Test runs –
12 Inns – Herbert Sutcliffe, 1925
12 Inns – Everton Weekes, 1949
13 Inns – Don Bradman, 1930
13 Inns – Kamindu Mendis, 2024*
14 Inns – Neil Harvey, 1950
14 Inns – Vinod Kambli, 1993
Take a bow! 🙌🏻 pic.twitter.com/3sCycfMWUw— Rᴀɪᴋᴀᴛ (@OverMidWicket) September 27, 2024
Take a bow
1000 Test runs in 13 innings for Kamindu Mendis. Sir Don Bradman and Kamindu Mendis just two in that esteemed list. Take a bow
— Sahil Gulzar (@theeverlast_) September 27, 2024
In Test cricket
Kamindu Mendis in Test Cricket :-
8 matches
13 innings
1004 runs
91.27 avg
50s/100s – 4/5
150+ score – 2 pic.twitter.com/GPD5PNt2Dy— Ritik ✍🏻 (@smith___49) September 27, 2024
KAMINDU MENDIS – The new Batting Hero of Sri Lanka 💪
– 8 Test Matches.
– 13 innings.
– 900+ runs.
– 83+ average.
– 5 Hundreds.
– 4 Fifties.#kamindumendis #SLvsNZ pic.twitter.com/1SoSZFsWy1— 4Nu (@imanaswar17) September 27, 2024
Impressive record
Wow, what an impressive record! Kamindu Mendis is definitely making his mark in Test cricket as Sri Lanka’s new run machine! Excited to see how he continues to perform! 🏏💪
— Sanjeev Kumar (@sksuny23) September 27, 2024
So sad
He was batting at 182 and Srilanka Declared The inning
Feel for kamindu Mendis— Rishabh 18 (@rishabh18v) September 27, 2024
Shakeel is fraud
Can’t play on seaming condition unlike Kamindu mendis/Jaiswal.— Mathemetically Physicist. (@mathemerizing19) September 27, 2024
Need six more
Kamindu Mendis has to hit 6 more boundaries to surpass Ben Duckett in tests in 2024. Ben Duckett tops the list with 102 boundaries this year in tests
— Cric mania (@Cric_craziness) September 27, 2024
Remember
REMEMBER THE NAME – KAMINDU MENDIS 🥶
— Xavier (@TheXavierSays) September 27, 2024
