ENG vs SL: Kamindu Mendis Smashes Third Test Century; Joins Kapil Dev, Rishabh Pant In Elite List

ENG vs SL: Sri Lanka's star batter Kamindu Mendis scored a brilliant hundred on the fourth day of the first Test match against England in Manchester on Saturday. He began his international career for Sri Lanka on a high as he is considered a bright, upcoming talent for them. He had smashed his third Test century after playing in four Test matches. He also joined an elite list of Asian batters after scoring his brilliant knock. He has become just the seventh Asian batter to have smashed a century while playing as a lower-order batter in England. The other batters to have achieved this feat are- Sandeep Patil, Rishabh Pant, Anil Kumble, Kapil Dev, Ajit Agarkar, and Ravindra Jadeja.

Kamindu had to toil hard to reach the three-figure mark off just 167 balls. He played a gritty knock and was looking in sublime form and helped the team bounce back. He came into bat after skipper Dhananjaya de Silva got out in the 26th over. He came in when the team was in a state of bother as they were reeling at 95/4. He stitched a crucial partnership with Angelo Matthews. They took the lead to the three-figure mark as the English bowlers looked exhausted since the stumps of the third day. Luck also worked in Mendis and Matthew's favor as their catches were dropped in Matthew Potts' over. But it was Chris Woakes, who ended their 78-run partnership.

Mendis smashed his third Test half-century by hitting a four on Chris Woakes's ball. Dinesh Chandimal, who left the field on the third day due to a thumb injury returned and joined Mendis. They ended the third day by stitching a partnership of 82 runs and began the fourth day on a high and also took advantage of Mark Wood's absence, who sustained a right thigh muscle injury.

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It was the Sri Lankan batters, who dominated the morning session of the fourth day as they scored 100 more runs of their overnight score.