The success story of Kamindu Mendis since he made his Test debut continues. The Sri Lanka star remained unbeaten on 51 on the first day of the second Test against New Zealand in Galle on Thursday and in doing so he set a new world record. The 25-year-old star is now the first batter in the 147 year history of Test cricket to score a fifty-plus score in each of his first eight Tests since debut. Before him, Pakistan’s Shaud Shakeel held the record as he had fifty-plus score is each of the first seven Tests that he played. Earlier, India’s Sunil Gavaskar (6) jointly held the record with three others. 

50+ scores in most successive Tests from debut

8 – Kamindu Mendis*

7 – Saud Shakeel

6 – Bert Sutcliffe, Saeed Ahmed, Basil Butcher and Sunil Gavaskar

Dinesh Chandimal‘s century in Galle powered Sri Lanka to 306-3 at stumps on Thursday’s opening day of the second Test against New Zealand.

The left-hander was bowled by Glenn Phillips in the final session after hitting 15 boundaries in his knock of 116 — his sixth Test century at the picturesque venue and his 16th overall. 

Angelo Mathews (78) and Kamindu Mendis (51) will resume for the hosts on the second day after both hitting half-centuries. 

For Kamindu it was a world record eighth consecutive fifty since the 25-year-old’s debut against Australia at the same venue two years ago. 

Mathews reached his own milestone by becoming only the sixth cricketer to make 2,000 Test runs at a single venue — a select group that includes the likes of Joe Root and Graham Gooch — on the notoriously bowler-friendly Galle pitch.

Chandimal made his ton with a single off Kiwi spinner Mitchell Santner in a knock that capitalised on loose deliveries.

He powered forwards after the end of his 122-run stand with Dimuth Karunaratne, who was run out on 46 and walked back to the pavilion fuming after a miscommunication between the pair. 

With AFP inputs