Batting in his only 11th Test innings, Kamindu Mendis smashed his fourth Test century to set a new record for Sri Lanka in the first match against New Zealand at Galle International Stadium on Wednesday. Kusal Mendis also scored a fifty as Sri Lanka managed to reach a 300-plus total on Day 1.
Kamindu Mendis continued his sensational form in red-ball cricket with a crucial century to give Sri Lanka an upper hand on Day 1 of the first Test match against New Zealand in Galle. Sri Lanka posted a challenging total of 302/7 after early setbacks at Galle International Stadium.
Pitch and Toss
The conditions look fantastic, the pitch looks good, there’s plenty of grass on the surface which is covered by some brown grass. That means there will be movement with the new ball for the first 30-45 minutes. It’s still a bat first pitch as always at this venue, get 400-450 and bring the spinners into play, reckons Farvez Maharoof, in his pitch report
Sri Lanka skipper Dhananjaya De Silva won the toss and chose to bat with 2 pacers and 2 spinners in his playing XI. New Zealand skipper Tim Southee bowling first also chose 3 spinners in his playing XI.
Day 1 : Morning Session : Sri Lanka steady after O’Rourke’s early strikes before Lunch
William O’Rourke’s twin strikes pushed Sri Lanka on the backfoot early before experienced campaigners Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews pulled them out of the hole to go to Lunch at 88/2 on opening day of the first Test in Galle. Mathews, however, retired hurt later after being struck on his right hand by the young pacer.
Dhananjaya de Silva had no hesitation in opting to bat in sunny Galle, but the decision backfired early on. Pathum Nissanka lucked out first ball to open his account with a streaky boundary as the extra bounce took the thick inside edge past the leg-stump. However, with the New Zealand pacers finding swing and seam early on, it wasn’t at all smooth sailing for the hosts.
O’Rourke got the ball to move and troubled both the openers. Even as Nissanka managed to find the ropes a few times in his 25-ball stay for 27, Dimuth Karunaratne fell first to a back of length of delivery that was angled in and moved away sharply to take a thick edge through to the keeper. Nissanka got a peach from the pacer in his following over, an inswinging yorker that crashed right into his offstump to stem the flow of runs.
Mathews joined hands with Chandimal to resurrect the innings and the duo dug deep. Like the pacers early on, the spinners too were challenging the batters and runs weren’t easy to come. With about half an hour to go for the session break, O’Rourke returned into the attack and struck
Mathews on his right glove with a delivery that rose sharply on him and had him in pain for the next couple of overs. The former Sri Lankan skipper eventually decided to walk off four overs before Lunch, with Sri Lanka suffering a big metaphorical blow on a track where batting hasn’t been as easy.
New Zealand though had started the day the better of the two sides with O’Rourke lighting up a gloomy morning session with a menacing opening burst full of pace, bounce and lateral movement. Through it he accounted for the wickets of Dimuth Karunaratne and Pathum Nissanka, while he also wrought some pain on Mathews, after one seamed back in sharply to strike his right forefinger. That knock forced Mathews to retire hurt, but he was able to return later on to complete his innings.
Earlier in the morning session, it was O’Rourke who caused trouble for both the openers with swing and seam, and some extra bounce in a testing spell with the new ball. Dimuth Karunaratne was done in by a back of length delivery that moved away sharply to take an edge, while Pathum Nissanka’s boundary filled cameo up-top came to an end with a peach of an inswinging yorker that disturbed his off-stump.
Chandimal and Mathews dug in to resurrect the innings but O’Rourke’s return to the attack, saw the latter copping a blow to his right hand and eventually retiring hurt two overs later, only to resume in a similar situation where the hosts had lost two batters in quick succession.
Day 1 : Post Lunch Session : Kamindu Mendis continues fightback although New Zealand pick three in the session
Kamindu Mendis’ fine 61* drove Sri Lanka forward in the afternoon session that was bookend by the loss of experienced and set batters in soft dismissals, on Day 1 of the Galle Test against New Zealand. Sri Lanka hadn’t even added a run to their morning tally of 88 for 2 when Dinesh Chandimal fell, fourth ball after Lunch, to Tim Southee. Shaping up for a flick, the No. 3 batter ended up chipping a catch to the left of square leg.
Dhananjaya de Silva nearly yorked himself before opening his account, with a lucky boundary next ball that just about managed to evade a diving Michael Bracewell. However, his stay in the middle was short-lived and Glenn Phillips got on the board with a classic off break through the gate to crash into the Sri Lankan skipper’s off-stump.
Having retired hurt earlier four overs before Lunch, Matthews walked back out, much to Sri Lanka’s relief. Alongside the fluent Kamindu Mendis, he built a 72-run partnership to steady the innings once more. Mathews’ struggles against O’Rourke notwithstanding, the pair kept the scoreboard ticking by punishing the lose ones away even as scoring remained a bit of a challenge.
Mendis got a reprieve on 21 when Phillips slipped after misjudging a catch, and never looked back. He fetched back to back fours off Mitchell Santner with reverse sweeps, and looked at ease against Ajaz Patel too, dishing out similar treatment to the left-arm spinner to welcome him back into the attack with an expensive 13-run over. He brought up his half-century shortly after Sri Lanka crossed the 150-mark.
The O’Rourke vs Mathews battle resumed, three overs out from Tea, with a fiery bumper that was called a no-ball, and eventually ended in the Sri Lankan unnecessarily poking at one at the stroke of the break.
New Zealand’s persistence continued to pay off after lunch, as they grabbed a further three wickets to bookend the session. Dinesh Chandimal fell right at the start, chipping to midwicket for a sharp catch, while Mathews fell on the stroke of tea. In between, Dhananjaya de Silva had a ripper from Phillips turn right through bat and pad to clip the top of off.
On another day, all that might have signaled a successful day for the visitors, but Kamindu Mendis ensured that it was the hosts that would take home honours on a hard-fought opening day.
Day 1 : Afternoon Session : Kamindu Mendis record-breaking century gives Sri Lanka edge over New Zealand on Day 1
Kamindu Mendis continued to sizzle as Sri Lanka bagged the opening day honours at Galle in the first Test against New Zealand. Promoted to No.5 after a stellar start to his Test career, Kamindu Mendis had to bail Sri Lanka out of trouble and reverse their fortunes as New Zealand lost their grip. Eventually, the home side went into stumps at 302/7.
Pathum Nissanka got Sri Lanka going with three boundaries but William O’Rourke didn’t take long to strike as Dimuth Karunaratne edged one after succumbing to the extra bounce that was on offer. Nissanka was then outdone by an inswinging delivery by the pacer that rattled the stumps as Sri Lanka lost their openers inside the first six overs. Despite that start, New Zealand introduced spin as early as in the ninth over.
Sri Lanka however steadied themselves after those early strikes with the experienced duo of Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews holding forte. Both the spinners did challenge the batters with turn but couldn’t break the partnership as Tim Southee opted to bring back O’Rourke. The pacer hurt Mathews with a delivery that hit his glove and while the veteran looked to carry on, he eventually caved in and had to walk back retired hurt just before lunch.
Kamindu Mendis, who joined Chandimal out in the middle, made a fine start but lost his partner at the other end immediately after lunch. New Zealand grew in confidence as it was now Glenn Phillips’ turn to make an impact. Introduced into the attack, Phillips came up with an absolute ripper that stunned Dhananjaya de Silva to breach his defence and knock the stumps. Mathews returned to the crease after this dismissal as the New Zealand spinners continued to create half-chances.
Kamindu Mendis remained unperturbed though as he fetched successive boundaries off Ajaz Patel before bringing up a 73-ball fifty. O’Rourke had to return to the attack to break the stand as Mathews edged the pacer behind to depart for a hard-fought 36. By this time, the visitors were in complete control as Sri Lanka lost half their side with just 178 on the board.
However, Kamindu Mendis joined forces with Kusal Mendis in the final session to turn the game around. Not only did Kusal make a fine start, Kamindu Mendis at the other end hurt New Zealand by finding the boundary regularly. At one point, Sri Lanka were scoring at six an over as Kamindu Mendis brought up his century with another boundary, this time off Rachin Ravindra.
Kamindu Mendis became the quickest Sri Lanka to four Test hundreds as the promotion from No.7 to No.5 was justified. Kusal, who was demoted down the order after being handed the gloves, helped himself to a fifty as the century stand flattened New Zealand.
The visitors were then aided by tremendous luck as Kusal connected a pull off Phillips, only for the ball to hit the arm of the short leg fielder before lobbing up as Southee from midwicket completed the catch. Just before the close of play, Ajaz managed to bag the big wicket of Kamindu but with the surface already playing tricks, Sri Lanka would be the happier unit.
Kamindu’s 114 off 173 was part of two key partnerships, the first worth 72 with Angelo Mathews and the second for 103 with Kusal Mendis. Around those New Zealand did what they do best. They put their best foot forward, set up solid plans, and threw themselves at everything. It meant Sri Lanka were unable to take complete control of the game having won the toss and elected to bat first on an unusually grass-strewn surface.
Ramesh Mendis was unbeaten on 14 off 42 at stumps, alongside him was the Prabhat Jayasuriya, but this was a day that belonged to Kamindu Mendis.
His best work was done alongside the other Mendis in the lineup, Kusal, whose 50 off 68 provided the ideal foil to Kamindu Mendis’s steady hand. While missteps were rare for New Zealand, one in particular – a missed chance off a Kamindu Mendis miscue when he was still on 21 – might linger a little longer in the memory. That was also a rare Kamindu Mendis misstep, as for the most part, he dealt with whatever the visitors threw at him with consummate ease.
The most striking feature of his innings was the ease with which he used his feat against the spinners, a concerted ploy geared towards not allowing them to settle on their lines and lengths. It meant the use of sweeps was more targeted than prolific, hounding out gaps in the field for a consistent flow of runs.
His partnership with Mathews offered a much-needed period of consolidation after Sri Lanka had slumped to 106 for 4. Mathews had looked far from his best during a labored 36 off 116, and it meant the scoreboard also wasn’t moving as swiftly as the hosts might have hoped. However once Mathews fell, edging behind off the excellent O’Rourke, it also brought up Sri Lanka’s best period of the day.
With the ball softening and Kamindu Mendis already settled, Kusal’s natural aggression ran a tiring attack ragged. It took a freak dismissal to break the stand, as a hard pull off a Phillip’s long-hop saw the ball loop up off an evasive short leg and balloon to midwicket. Kusal looked on in disbelief, though by then Sri Lanka had already played themselves into a considerable position of strength.
Road Ahead on Day 2 for SL and NZ
On a surface that’s been quite challenging to bat, Sri Lanka have done well to hold fort and lose just 7 wickets. The day started with a brilliant new ball spell from Will O’Rourke who had the Sri Lankan batters in all sorts of trouble with his extra zip and bounce. He accounted for both openers early and dealt a painful blow to Angelo Mathews who retired hurt after getting struck on the finger. The star of the day, though, was Kamindu Mendis who was pushed up the order to No. 5.
He batted with exemplary poise and notched up fifty just before tea. Sri Lanka lost a few quick wickets in that second session but most of the final session belonged to them. Kusal Mendis took the attack to the New Zealand bowlers and along with Kamindu, dispatched anything that was remotely loose.
Kamindu Mendis went on to reach three-figures and despite there being turn and bounce on offer for the New Zealand spinners throughout the day, the two Mendis’ piled the pressure back. It was only towards the end of the day that they fell – Kusal first in a dramatic fashion and Kamindu next after getting an unplayable ripper. With 302 already on the board and 3 wickets in hand, Sri Lanka are on top of this contest.
Sri Lanka navigated a tricky wicket to great effect yesterday to post 302/7 and they’ll be hoping that their tail can stick around and add another 50 runs to really put them in a position from where they can call the shots. As for New Zealand, while they bowled well for the most part, they let the ball drop in the last session and allowed the opposition to seize the momentum.
There’s still plenty of help from the wicket for the seamers and particularly for the spinners so New Zealand will hope to wrap this innings up quickly before getting stuck in with the bat. The wicket seemingly broke up quite a bit just after one day’s play and there were explosions off the bowlers’ footmarks so batting will only get more difficult as the game goes on.