Galle [Sri Lanka], September 19 : Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis scored his fourth Test century in his seventh Test match. He scored 114 off 173 deliveries against New Zealand at Galle on Wednesday.
He was promoted to no 5 after his excellent form in England. Mendis' 114-run inning propelled Sri Lanka to a solid score of 302/7 at the end of Day One against New Zealand in the first test match at the Galle International Stadium.
Mendis was the final wicket to fall for Sri Lanka on day one after Ajaz Patel's delivery reared up to hit his gloves and go to the slip cordon.
Mendis has made a fifty-plus score at least once in each of his first seven Tests, a world record in this format that he shares with Pakistan's Saud Shakeel, who did the same last year.
Mendis has scored centuries in Sylhet twice, Manchester, and Galle, but he considered this as the most special.
"This is my hometown, and Richmond College, the school I went to, is here," Kamindu said after the day's play, as quoted by ICC.
"There was a thought swirling around my head that I had to hit a hundred here. But to be honest you shouldn't be happy with just a hundred as a batsman. You need to go further than that. Unfortunately, I got out," Kamindu added.
Mendis' extraordinary start in whites has seen him score 809 runs in 11 innings, averaging a mind-blowing 80.9 in the format, the highest for any batter after Sir Donald Bradman with a minimum of 10 Test innings, as per ICC.
In the current World Test Championship cycle, Mendis has the best average for any batter, he made 748 runs in 10 innings at 83.11 with four hundreds. Only Joe Root has made more hundreds (5) in this cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC).
Mendis, who made 61 on his Test debut against Australia in 2022, hit top gear against Bangladesh earlier this year. He made 102 in Sylhet in the first innings and a stunning 164 in the second, followed by an unbeaten 92 in Chattogram.
Against England, he made 113 at Old Trafford, added 74 at Lord's, and wrapped up with 64 at The Oval as Sri Lanka won a Test match on English soil for the first time in a decade.