Sri Lanka batter matches Don Bradman after extending stunning start to Test career

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Louise Thomas

Editor

Kamindu Mendis has continued his remarkable start to his Test match career after equalling one of the legendary Sir Don Bradman’s cricket milestones.

The Sri Lanka batter scored his fifth century in just eight Test matches after striking a stunning 182 runs from just 250 balls in the first innings of the second Test against New Zealand, with his side declaring on 602 with just five wickets down.

That score takes Mendis to 1,004 Test match runs from just 13 innings, with his second not-out, reaching four figures in the fastest time in the sport’s format for 75 years.

To reach 1,000 runs or more in just 13 innings, Mendis has equalled the amount of time it took Bradman.

In 1949, West Indies' Everton Weekes scored 1,000 runs in 12 Test innings, which is still the record. While England's Herbert Sutcliffe was the first to achieve the feat in 12 innings, doing so in 1925.

In terms of total matches played, Kamindu is now the second-fastest ever to bring up 1,000 runs in eight Test matches, with Bradman doing so in seven.

Mendis currently averages 91.27 runs in Test cricket, now less than 10 runs short of the great Bradman’s leading average of 99.94 runs.

Mendis received a promotion from number seven to number five following his prolific form against England earlier in the summer.

He then scored another century in the first Test against New Zealand on 18 September as he helped his side fight back from 106 for four to 305 all out.

Against the Kiwis, Mendis scored a fluent 173-ball 114. But in the second innings he only made 13.

However, Wisden does not count any batter in their official list before they have a minimum of 20 innings. Although only Bradman has a higher average batting number five or lower for a minimum of 10 innings in Test cricket.

The current player with the highest qualifying average was Steve Smith, who averages 56.97 after 109 Test matches, and Adam Voges stood second on the list having played in 20 matches averaging 61.87 between 2015 and 2016.

The first Sri Lankan on the list was Kumar Sangakkara who scored 12,400 runs at 57.40 after 134 matches played across 15 years at the start of the century.

Mendis made his debut for Sri Lanka against Australia at Galle in 2022, and batting at six he scored 61 as the home side won by an innings and 39 runs. But instead of kick-starting his career, it started a 20-month absence from the national side.

Mendis has also recorded a score of more than 50 once in each of his first eight Tests, a record he holds on his own after passing Saud Shakeel from Pakistan after his run of seven Tests last year.

Mendis could now challenge the record for 50s in consecutive Test matches, which is jointly held by AB de Villiers and Joe Root who have done so in 12 successive games.