Sri Lankan skipper Dhananjaya De Silva has come under fire for declaring the innings during the 2nd test in Galle. Star batter Kamindu Mendis was batting on 182 when the players were called back to the hut by the Lankan skipper. Many fans on social media were unhappy with the move as the batter just needed 18 runs to score his 200.
The home team declared their innings on 602 for the loss of 5 wickets in the 164th wicket. New Zealand had already lost two wickets as they lost their openers Tom Latham for 2 and Devon Conway for 9. Asitha Fernando and Prabath Jayasuriya were the two wicket-takers for the team.
In the 4th ball of the 164th over, Kamindu Mendis hit Rachin Ravindra for a huge six. This made him the 2nd fastest batter to reach the 1000-run mark in Test cricket. Everton Weekes and Herbert Sutcliffe had got to the mark in 12 innings while Sir Donald Bradman and now Kamindu Mendis have done it in 13 innings.
Sri Lanka posts huge score to put New Zealand in trouble
Having won the toss and batter first the home team scored a mammoth 602 on the board in their 1st innings. On day one Dinesh Chandimal had batted well to score 1116 runs from 208 balls with 16 hits to the fence.
Pathum Nissanka had scored just one run while former skipper Dimuth Karunaratne was out for 46. At the start of day two, Angelo Matthews fell to Glenn Phillips for 88 runs. Skipper De Silva was back in the pavilion after scoring 44 runs from just 80 balls.
When De Silva was out the score was reading 402 in the 119th over. Kusal and Kamindu then added 200 runs for the 6th wicket in 45 overs. When the players were called back Kusal Mendis was not out on 106 off 149 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes. The left-handed batting sensation Kamindu Mendis was on 182 off 250 balls with 18 fours and 4 sixes.
When stumps were called former Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson was batting on 6 runs from 42 balls. Ajaz Patel was keeping him company as he is yet to get off the mark after having faced 10 balls. The visitors trail Sri Lanka by a massive 560 runs with three more days left to be played.
Here’s how the fans reacted
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