Kamindu Mendis’ stellar start to his Test career continued as he remained unbeaten on 182 during Sri Lanka’s first innings against New Zealand, and there are several other records in his sights.
The left-hander made his debut in July 2022, scoring 61 against Australia, but only managed to play his second Test after a gap of nearly two years. His comeback to the set-up has been spectacular with five hundreds in his next 12 innings. He is also the joint-second-fastest to 1,000 Test runs, equalling the record held by Donald Bradman, also becoming the quickest to the feat in the last 75 years.
Currently, Mendis has 1,004 runs after eight Tests, or 13 innings, averaging 91.27. He is one of four batters to average more than 90 after his first 13 innings, behind Neil Harvey (106.56), Bradman (99.67) and Sunil Gavaskar (91.80).
Besides the records Mendis has already broken, there are several other landmarks that will be within his sights whenever he walks out to bat in his next innings.
Records Mendis will look to break
Highest Test average after 14 innings since 1950
If he is unbeaten on 96 in his next innings or is dismissed for 196, his average will shoot up to 100, which will be the second-most any batter has averaged after playing 14 innings. Harvey averaged 103.30 after his first 14 innings. If Mendis gets to the average, it will also be the first time since 1950 that a batter would have averaged 100 in his first 14 innings.
