SL vs NZ | Twitter and Kamindu dejected as de Silva takes leaf out of Dravid’s declaration book costing double ton

ByArijit Kundu, SportsCafe Editor

09/27/2024

13882

Tactics are a part and parcel of cricket contests and it’s necessary for outwitting the opposition. However, Dhananjaya de Silva’s weird tactics to declare early cost Kamindu Mendis his maiden double century in Test cricket on the second day of the second Test against New Zealand.

Sri Lanka continued their run-scoring spree from the first day of the Test despite Angelo Mathews falling early in the first session for 88. Dhanajaya de Silva’s 44 set up the stage for Kusal Mendis and Kamindu Mendis’ ton with the latter going strong even after Tea. The southpaw extracted regular boundaries amidst strike rotation and surpassed the 150-run mark on 229 balls. With the hosts inching near the 600-run mark following Kusal’s hundred, Dhanajaya de Silva’s inconsiderate strategy became the center of attention.

After Kusal reached a century in the 163rd over, Kamindu stepped down the ground on the fourth ball of the next over against Rachin Ravindra to slog a full ball over the ropes straight down the ground. The six helped Sri Lanka go past the 600-run mark with Kamindu unbridled at 182. Immediately after, the camera focused on the dressing room where captain Dhananjaya signaled the two batters to walk towards them as they were declaring. The southpaw was just 18 runs shy of his maiden double ton and the premature declaration ruminated with Rahul Dravid’s age-old declaration when Sachin Tendulkar was batting at 194*, sparking Twitterverse debates.

Declared

— Arijit Shanto (@ArijitShan18431)

One of the fastest

Fastest to 1000 Test runs -

12 Inns - Herbert Sutcliffe, 1925

12 Inns - Everton Weekes, 1949

13 Inns - Don Bradman, 1930

13 Inns - Kamindu Mendis, 2024*

14 Inns - Neil Harvey, 1950

14 Inns - Vinod Kambli, 1993

Take a bow! 🙌🏻
— Rᴀɪᴋᴀᴛ  (@OverMidWicket)

Take a bow

1000 Test runs in 13 innings for Kamindu Mendis. Sir Don Bradman and Kamindu Mendis just two in that esteemed list. Take a bow
— Sahil Gulzar (@theeverlast_)

In Test cricket

Kamindu Mendis in Test Cricket :-

8 matches

13 innings

1004 runs

91.27 avg

50s/100s - 4/5

150+ score - 2
— Ritik ✍🏻 (@smith___49)

Batting hero

KAMINDU MENDIS - The new Batting Hero of Sri Lanka 💪

- 8 Test Matches.

- 13 innings.

- 900+ runs.

- 83+ average.

- 5 Hundreds.

- 4 Fifties.
— 4Nu (@imanaswar17)

Impressive record

Wow, what an impressive record! Kamindu Mendis is definitely making his mark in Test cricket as Sri Lanka's new run machine! Excited to see how he continues to perform! 🏏💪
— Sanjeev Kumar (@sksuny23)

So sad

He was batting at 182 and Srilanka Declared The inning

Feel for kamindu Mendis
— Rishabh 18 (@rishabh18v)

Unlike them

Shakeel is fraud

Can't play on seaming condition unlike Kamindu mendis/Jaiswal.
— Mathemetically Physicist. (@mathemerizing19)

Need six more

Kamindu Mendis has to hit 6 more boundaries to surpass Ben Duckett in tests in 2024. Ben Duckett tops the list with 102 boundaries this year in tests
— Cric mania (@Cric_craziness)

Remember