Mendis promoted as Sri Lanka prepare for New Zealand
Sri Lanka have rewarded Kamindu Mendis for his profitable tour of England by moving him up the batting order for the two-Test series against New Zealand.
Mendis reaped a century and two half-centuries from his fourth, fifth and sixth career Tests over the past month in England, where he was Sri Lanka’s player of the series. In his brief Test career, he has three hundreds and four fifties.
It was time to move him from No. 7 to No. 5 in the line-up, Sri Lanka coach Sanath Jayasuriya said ahead of Wednesday’s Test in Galle.
“Too often he was batting with the tail and we felt that we need to make the best use of him,” Jayasuriya said.
Former captain Dinesh Chandimal, who occupied the No. 5 slot, has been moved to No. 3 and stripped of wicketkeeping duty. Kusal Mendis, no relation to Kamindu, will keep wickets and bat at No. 7.
Sri Lanka are expected to make two more changes from the side that gained a consolation win over England in the third Test at the Oval. Seam bowlers Vishwa Fernando and Milan Ratnayake are expected to make way for spinners Prabath Jayasuriya and Ramesh Mendis.
“Our fast bowlers have done well, but it’s horses for courses and we have to back spin in Galle,” Jayasuriya said.
The forecast across the Test is not good, though the visitors will be used to that. Rain and a soggy outfield washed out all five days of a one-off Test against Afghanistan last week in Greater Noida, India. That was also to be New Zealand’s warm-up for this series.
“Disappointing, no doubt, but we cannot control the weather,” New Zealand captain Tim Southee said. “However, we have had some good training and have spent time together both in India and in Galle.”
While New Zealand have not played a test since March, they have plenty coming up.
“Eight Test matches between now and December is lot of cricket. We are excited,” Southee said. “We are ranked three in the World Test Championship and it’s an opportunity for us to get some points and move forward.”
Sri Lanka last won a series against the Black Caps in 2009 and the last two series in Sri Lanka in 2012 and 2019 ended 1-1.
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