It wasn’t Sri Lanka’s day in the second Test against New Zealand at Christchurch with the visitors facing the prospect of a crushing defeat.
The islanders were reduced to 231-6 in their chase of a mammoth 660 with one day of play still remaining in the Test. Despite the unenviable position Sri Lanka now find themselves in heading into Sunday, there was something to smile about for the tourists with young batsman Kusal Mendis bringing up 1,000 Test runs in 2018.
The 23-year-old became only the second batsman after India skipper and No1 ranked Virat Kohli to touch four figures in the calendar year and the youngest since 2005 to attain the feat.
The right-hander continued his good form in the series with a well-crafted 67 in Sri Lanka’s second innings before he was dismissed by Neil Wagner.
The young batsman was long heralded as the next big batting hope to emerge from Sri Lanka when he made his Test debut against the West Indies as a 20-year-old. Mendis seemed intent on fulling that promise with a match-winning 176 against Australia at Pallekelle but then seemed to lose his way with a string of poor displays.
Dropped from the Test outfit at one stage, Mendis had truly blossomed into an excellent red-ball batsman in 2018 with three tons to his name. The first was a 196 against Bangladesh at Chittagong while the second came in the West Indies in Trinidad.
The youngster has registered three tons in 2018 alone.
The last of his three 2018 centuries came in the opening Test against New Zealand where he remained unbeaten on 141 to help pull off a remarkable draw for the visitors.
Now, the Sri Lanka youngster is hoping to turn his 2018 showing as a benchmark for the rest of his career.
“I’m really happy, and I did have that target (1,000 runs) in mind,” Mendis was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
“In the first few matches of the year I didn’t have that in my head, but later on, after I’d played a few games and scored a few runs, then I became pretty intent on getting to 1000 runs. I’m really glad I was able to do it at 23, and I had challenged myself to get there in this last game,” he added.
Mendis has also credited Sri Lanka batting coach Thilan Samaraweera for helping him gain confidence to perform overseas.
“Before I came to New Zealand I had 200 more runs to get, and I talked to the batting coach Thilan Samaraweera, and was telling him I still had 200 to get in New Zealand. He said there’s no reason why I couldn’t do it – get there somehow. He gave me confidence, and I got a lot of help from everyone on how I can play on the tracks here. I’m going to try and get there every year,” he explained.
Mendis’ 1,023 Test runs in 2018 have come in 23 innings at an average of 46.50.
