Sri Lanka batsman Kamindu Mendis moves closer to Don Bradman and major test records

Kamindu Mendis continued his remarkable start to his Test match career, scoring his fourth century in just seven Test matches.

After being promoted from seventh to fifth following his outstanding performance against England earlier in the summer, Mendis scored another century against New Zealand on 18 September, helping his team improve from 106 for four to a total of 305.

Against the Kiwis, Mendis scored a fluent 114 runs in 173 balls, taking his total to 809 runs in 11 innings and briefly reaching an average of 80.90 in the format, the highest of any batsman after Sir Don Bradman, with a minimum of 10 innings. But in the second innings he managed just 13, reducing his average to 68.50.

However, Wisden does not include a batsman in its official list until he has completed at least 20 innings. However, only Bradman has a higher average strike rate of five or less for at least 10 innings in Test cricket.

The current highest average was Steve Smith with an average of 56.97 after 109 Test matches. Adam Voges was second on the list after averaging 61.87 in 20 matches between 2015 and 2016.

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

Mendis made his 2022 debut for Sri Lanka against Australia in Galle, scoring 61 while batting sixth as the home team won by an innings and 39 runs, but instead of launching his career, it began a 20-month absence from the national team.

Since his recall, 25-year-old Mendis has played 11 innings in seven matches this calendar year, scoring more than 800 runs.

Mendis also scored over 50 in each of his first seven Tests, a record he shares with Pakistan’s Saud Shakeel, who achieved the same feat last year.

But given his numerous half-centuries scored in seven Tests, if he maintains his form he could break the record for 50 runs in consecutive Test matches jointly held by AB de Villiers and Joe Root, who managed this in 12 consecutive matches.

The Sri Lankan mid-order batsman is also on the verge of breaking another record: he will be the fastest to reach 1,000 Test runs. The current record is 12 Test matches and is jointly held by Herbert Sutcliffe and Everton Weekes.

Mendis could add his name to that list, but to reach that milestone in 11 Tests he would have needed to score at least 191 runs in the second innings against New Zealand, instead he managed 13.

If he scores 50 or more in the second innings, he would be on a par with Indian star Sunil Gavaskar, who has scored nine 50-plus scores – the most of any batsman in his first seven Tests. Only three players, Bradman and the West Indian duo George Headley and Weekes, have scored five hundreds in their first seven Tests.