Kusal Mendis of Sri Lanka has had a tremendous run in the present One-Day International series against Bangladesh. However, Sri Lanka’s batting coach, Thilina Kandamby, believes Mendis can turn his fifties into massive hundreds. As the third and final ODI takes place in Pallekele on July 8, the host team will rely on their seasoned batter to deliver yet again.
The ODI series between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh is currently tied at 1-1. Mendis hit 45 off 43 balls in the first ODI before smashing a record-breaking 20-ball fifty, the fastest ever at Khettarama, in the second match of the series. Despite his heroics, Sri Lanka were unable to chase down 249 in the second match.
Kandamby lauded Kusal Mendis’ effect but urged the in-form batsman to do more.
“He gave us a great start in the first game, and he is an experienced player who has played a lot of cricket.” He must now realise this and convert those starts into hundreds. If he scores 100 points, we win 90-95% of our games. “He knows that, too,” Kandamby remarked.
Pallekele looks good for batting: Thilina Kandamby
The coach emphasized that Mendis could have gone on to score 150 to 200 in the first ODI and made a bigger impact than he did. Kandamby also reflected on how the Pallekele conditions could play in Mendis’ benefit.
“Pallekele looks good for batting. I think there will be a good bounce as well. If you analyse the last few games at Pallekele, we had batting-friendly tracks, and there have been a lot of runs scored here in the past year. I hope that continues,” Kandamby concluded.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh will be confident after their second ODI win, which came after a solid all-round effort. Shamim Hossain picked up the wicket of Sri Lankan captain Charith Asalanka. Tanvir Islam’s five-wicket haul dismantled the Sri Lankan middle order.
India
