Sports
Mendis is back and needs to rise to the occasion
Rex Clementine in Bangalore
Sri Lanka’s net session at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore yesterday was taking place behind closed doors. The session was limited for the press and the local cricket authorities. Among the handful of locals, the talking point was the brilliance of Kusal Mendis. His wristy stroke play against pace and stepping out to spinners and lofting the ball to the stands was a frequent sight. Not a single time did he mishit, not a single time was he beaten for pace, not a single time the spinners had the better of him. When Mendis is in full flow, there are no better sights in cricket. The question is can he transform the excellence in the net at the Test match.
The locals have seen little of Mendis. He has never played in India before. Strange, for a guy who debuted in 2015 and has been an integral part of the side. One reason is that Graham Labrooy dropped him for the 2017 tour amidst much opposition. Labrooy argued that there is no point in having so much talent if you don’t covert starts into match winning ones.
That’s exactly been Kusal’s problem. He can make a formidable bowling line-up look ordinary but finds silly ways to gift his wicket after being well set. This infuriates selectors and team mates.
Twice in his career he has been dismissed just one stroke away from a double hundred. Having watched the man closely you can assume that he was trying to do an Aravinda de Silva, reach the milestone with a six as on both occasions he was caught in the deep. You can understand it happening once. But the same error twice, that infuriates people.
Then obviously there were off the field distractions. Thankfully, he looks to have put all the disappointments behind him and set to rebuild his career. At one point, it was just a matter of time before he was anointed as the next captain. But now he’s got to convince a lot of people. But before that, he needs to score big runs. With the team under pressure, having lost the opening encounter by an innings and 222 runs inside three days, the Bangalore Test match is the ideal opportunity.
Not all his seven Test hundreds have come against Zimbabwe or Bangladesh. There was that stunning 176 against Mitchell Starc and co at Pallekele very early in his career. It was his seventh Test match and the first international hundred.
Then there was an equally good 141 not out in Wellington in 2018 and a classy 110 against India six months earlier.
During all those knocks, the bowlers had run out of ideas. With an impregnable defence and wonderful stroke play, the bowlers were at his mercy before Mendis threw it away. Good international batsmen learn quicker to value their wickets. For Mendis it has taken longer than people like. But he has begun to show the hunger and this could be the turnaround for Mendis that people have been waiting for.
Mendis will play the game in place of Pathum Nissanka, who has complained about back pain. He is expected to occupy the number three position. He missed the first Test due to a hamstring injury.
India capped off a dominant tri-series campaign in Colombo with a resounding win over Sri Lanka, posting their highest-ever women’s ODI total on Sri Lankan soil—344 for five —before bowling the hosts out for 245.
Smriti Mandhana led the charge with a superb 11th ODI hundred—her first against Sri Lanka—anchoring partnerships of 70 with Pratika Rawal and 120 with Harleen Deol.
Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Jemimah Rodrigues chipped in with brisk 40s, while India smashed 90 runs in the last 10 overs.
Despite a spirited effort, Sri Lanka’s daunting chase faltered. Chamari Atapattu’s 50 and a few half-century stands weren’t enough to close the gap. Seamer Amanjot Kaur struck early, removing two of the top three, while offspinner Sneh Rana starred with four for 38, finishing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker.
India’s batting wasn’t without drama—Rawal survived an early chance, and Mandhana was twice let off before unleashing her full range of strokes. She was especially brutal on Atapattu, sweeping her repeatedly through square leg and cover en route to a 92-ball century.
Amanjot’s return in the middle overs derailed the chase further, bowling Gunaratne and setting up Rana’s match-turning spell. Atapattu, despite reaching her 19th ODI fifty, was undone by Rana, who later removed three more to slam the door shut.
Late resistance from Sanjeewani and Kumari delayed the inevitable, but a run-out and two quick Rana strikes wrapped up the win.
India’s comprehensive display sent a strong message ahead of the Women’s World Cup, reaffirming their title credentials.
Brief scores:
India
342 for seven (Mandhana 116, Rodrigues 44, Kumari 2-59) beat Sri Lanka 245 (Atapattu 51, Rana 4-38, Amanjot 3-54) by 97 runs.
Apna Perera and Dinara de Silvaemerged as the men’s and women’s singles champions respectively at the 110th Colombo Championships continued at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association clay courts.
In the men’s singles final, Apna beat Ashen Silva 7-6, 6-1. Dinara registered convincing 6-1, 6-2 win over Venuli Jayasinghe in the women’s final.
In the boys’ Under 18 semi-finals, Ashlin de Silva beat Nethmika Wickramasinghe 6-2, 6-1 while Mayooran Kubheran beat Aahil Kaleel 6-7, 7-6, 6-4.
National champion Chamod Yodasinghe secured a creditable second place rank for an impressive performace of 10.27 seconds as he out did a strong field in the 100 metres at the Dubai Grand Prix on Friday.
Yodasinghe who was entered only for the 4x100m relay received a golden opportunity in Dubai when his request to run the 100 metres there was granted by the organisers. The athlete trained by sprint coach Sanjeewa Weerakkody equalled his personal best (10.27 seconds) in winning his race.
Incidentally, his winning time was second only to the winner of the first race where top ranked athletes including Yupun Abeykoon competed.
Oman’s Ali Al Balooshi was the fastest as he clocked 10.19 seconds while Abeykoon finished fifth with a time of 10.39 seconds.
Abeykoon who was making his first 100 metres appearance of the year was ranked sixth overall.
In the 4×100 metres relay Sri Lanka’s quartet finished third in a time of 39.41 seconds.
Yodasinghe will next compete at the Asian Athletics Championships later this month.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s 4×400 metres mixed relay team finished last in their heat at the World Relays in China yesterday.
by Reemus Fernando
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