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GALLE: Rising Sri Lanka batter Kamindu Mendis on Friday, flipped record books as he equalled legendary batter, Sir Donald ‘Don’ Bradman’s record of the second-fastest to reach 1000 runs in Test cricket.
Mendis achieved the milestone on the second day of the second Test between Sri Lanka and New Zealand which saw him scoring his fifth Test century.
During his marathon 182-run knock, the left-handed batter breached the 1000 Test runs barrier. Kamindu Mendis achieved the landmark in just 13 innings and drew level with Sir Don Bradman, while England’s Herbert Sutcliffe and West Indies’ Everton Weeks were the joint-fastest with 12 innings.
Furthermore, Kamindu Mendis’ batting average (91.27) is now the second-fastest among players with more than 1000 Test runs and is only behind that of Don Bradman (99.94).
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Mendis’ fifth Test century, which came in just 13 innings, was also the joint-fourth fastest, alongside Bradman. Only three batters Weekes (ten), Sutcliffe (12) and Neil Harvey (12) conceded fewer innings.
On the opening day of the aforementioned fixture, Mendis became the first batter in history to score a half-century in each of his first eight Test matches.
As a result, Kamindu Mendis joined Babar Azam as the only two batters to score eight consecutive half-centuries since 2018.
Furthermore, Mendis, who has been in red-hot form since his Test return, became the first batter in the history of Test cricket to score a fifty-plus score in each of his first eight Tests, going past Pakistan’s Saud Shakeel, who scored seven.
Most 50-plus scores in consecutive Tests
Kamindu Mendis (SL): 8 Matches*
Saud Shakeel (PAK): 7 Matches
Bert Sutcliffe (NZ): 6 Matches
Saeed Ahmed (PAK): 6 Matches
Basil Butcher (WI): 6 Matches
Sunil Gavaskar (IND): 6 Matches
Mendis made his debut for Sri Lanka in 2022 against Australia in Galle and wasted no time to announce himself with a well-crafted 61, playing a pivotal role in leading the home side to an innings victory.
Despite a ground-breaking debut, Mendis remained away from the Test side for almost two years. He finally made his comeback earlier this year in the away series against Bangladesh.
Mendis started from where he left off as he scored two centuries in each innings of the Sylhet Test and backed it with a brilliant 92 in Chittagong.
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