Rex Clementine in London
There has been a lot of talk about Kamindu Mendis in England and the middle order batter provided the British press another opportunity to talk about him with a sparkling half-century here at Lord’s on day two of the second Test against England.
Sri Lanka’s batting collapsed once again in the first innings and Kamindu was the only batsman to score a half-century. The former Sri Lanka Under-19 captain has already scored a hundred on the tour in the first Test at Old Trafford and he looked comfortable against the moving ball at Lord’s as well.
Most batters struggle when they come on their first tour to England. Kamindu played the first Test without even playing the warm-up game and he looked up for the task.
Poor bloke bats too low and often runs out of partners. Yesterday had there been some more support for him he could have gone onto post a hundred at Lord’s and put his name in the Honours Board.
Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Sidath Wettimuny, Duleep Mendis, Marvan Atapattu. Angelo Mathews have all scored hundreds at Lord’s and that’s not bad company to have for a young 25 year old.
The good thing about Kamindu is that he has a tight technique. His game is uncomplicated. With a simple game plan, he defends well and puts the loose balls away. He is a quick learner too. At Old Trafford, he took middle stump guard. Having realized that it could bring trouble against the moving ball, at Lord’s he is taking off-stump guard.
Sri Lanka had slumped to 87 for six and without Kamindu’s effort it would have looked a lot worse.
Another guy put his name up in the Lord’s honours board yesterday. Asitha Fernando is his name. He became the second Sri Lankan after Rumesh Ratnayake to claim five wickets in an innings at Lord’s
Sri Lanka are under the pump as England didn’t enforce the follow on but with a lead of 256 runs and three days remaining in the game, the hosts are in a position to call the shots.
Sri Lanka haven’t lost a Test match in London since 1991. That record is at stake this time at Lord’s. Not that this game cannot be saved. In 2006, they were facing similar situation after England took a first innings lead of more than 350 and enforced the follow on. Mahela Jayawardene scored a brilliant hundred and six others chipped in with half-centuries in the second innings to save the game.