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Kamindu Mendis, the Sri Lanka cricketer, became the joint second-fastest to 1000 Test runs in just 13 innings during the second Test match against Sri Lanka at the Galle International Stadium on Friday, September 27. The left-handed batter joined Don Bradman of Australia in the illustrious list of cricketers to get up to 1k runs in the Test format in just a handful of innings, sitting behind Everton Weekes and Herbert Sutcliffe, who did it in just 12 innings.
At the start of play on day two of the second Test match in Galle, Kamindu Mendis, who was 51 not out in just 56 balls, arrived at the crease alongside veteran Angelo Mathews after they had taken Sri Lanka past 300 runs on day one. But, Angelo Mathews lost his wicket early in the first session when Glenn Phillips had him caught out with the help of William O’Rourke for 88 runs in 185 balls.
Sri Lanka posted mammoth 602-run total on the board before declaring their innings against New Zealand
After the 107-run stand between Angelo Mathews and Kamindu Mendis was broken, captain Dhanajaya de Silva managed to continue the momentum for Sri Lanka alongside his left-handed batting partner. While Kamindu Mendis kept scoring runs quickly at his end, his partner occupied the crease, to put the game out of New Zealand in the middle session on day two.
In the rest of the Sri Lankan innings, only Dhanjaya de Silva lost his wicket to the New Zealand bowlers on the threshold of a fifty. When Sri Lanka’s score read 402/5 in the first innings, Kusal Mendis joined Kamindu Mendis in the middle, and they matched each other stroke for stroke during their 200-run stand, to take Sri Lanka past 600 before the declaration came, and they picked up a couple of New Zealand wickets late on day two as well.
Kamindu stayed not out on 182 off 250 with 16 fours and four maximums, while Kusal went past his hundred, and he stayed unbeaten on 106 off 149 with six fours and three maximums. Notably, this was also the 50+ score in eighth consecutive Tests for Kamindu Mendis along with the fifth hundred in just 13 innings since making his Test debut in 2022 against Australia in Galle.
