Kusal Mendis’ herculean effort with the bat helped Sri Lanka to survive against the fiery Australia in the second test of the ongoing series. Kusal along with Ramesh Mendis added a crucial 65 runs to put Sri Lanka in a formidable position after the Lankan Lions opted to bat first.
Apart from Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal also scored a brilliant half century while kusal ended his day with 85* helping Sri Lanka to get to 224/9 at the end of day 1. However Sri Lanka got bowled out for 257 in their first innings.
Mendis was not harmed due to a collision with an Australian left-arm spinner named Matthew Kuhnemann on Day 1, which took place just after Dinesh Chandimal had been dismissed in the 61st over of the innings.
Ramesh, who was batting at that stage, played the ball toward mid-on. Kusal tried to take a single but collided with Kuhnemann, who was trying to get the ball. Luckily, both of them were back in action afterward without any serious injuries.
Bit happening here between Kuhnemann and Kusal Mendis 😅🫣#SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/yDKW2Kiahf
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) February 6, 2025
Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc produced a prolific performance, having each picked up three wickets on the first day of the Test.
Travis Head was able to add a third to Kuhnemann’s wicket haul.
Kuhnemann was the star in the first Test of this series, where he finished with nine wickets in a huge innings victory that gave Australia a 1-0 lead in the series.
His outstanding performance came after he had recovered from a surgery in Brisbane. At the age of 28, he had injured his right thumb during an innings with the Brisbane Heat in the BBL.
“I thought he was gone,” Australia men’s team coach Andrew McDonald said by cricket.com.au. “But as it got closer to the Test match, he was pretty much a lock three days out. It was a real surprise for me, I don’t know how it works really.”
