Third over of the innings; Shaheen Shah Afridi to Kusal Mendis; Mendis picks one from outside off and up and over mid-on for four. The shot did not have much timing, but it was a stroke from a man with confidence, who knew very well how much effort to put in the shot to get the best result.
This was Mendis’ first scoring shot of what would be another Mendis-like innings – bordering reckless abundance, but largely sublime. Mendis always has had that audacious streak and after the innings against South Africa, Mendis was a hungry lion ready to pounce on what was a batting paradise at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal.
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Pakistan were once again rather rudderless with their pace attack in Match 8 of ICC World Cup 2023, even though Hasan Ali had Kusal Perera caught behind early in the piece. But to Mendis they erred in line… rather Mendis forced them to.
His second four was a slap in front of square to an Afridi delivery. Most players would have looked to defend, but the diminutive Sri Lankan was so early in position as he knew the length Afridi was going to bowl even before Afridi could bowl – it was just sublime.
The recklessness came shortly after, in fact, three balls later when he threw the kitchen sink at a short and wide delivery connecting the slice over the third man – a diving Haris Rauf could not reach the delivery, but Mendis was not employing any half measures.
It was evident that Mendis was not going to hold back. He has been given the license. “The way to go for Kusal is the aggressive option. He needs to be positive; he needs to be looking for runs every time,” SL assistant coach Naveed Nawaz had told reporters a day earlier.
But that aggression comes at a cost – high risk; and today in front of a strong 15,000 crowd – it nearly did not pay off when Mendis chased after an outside off fuller delivery from Afridi and drove it straight to Imam ul Haq – dropped! – on 18.
Babar Azam stood standstill, Afridi had a dejected look, and Mohammad Rizwan had the gloves over his face. All of them knew giving Mendis a life, especially in such a form, would be a grave mistake. After that drop, Mendis reined in a bit, with Pathum Nissanka ensuring the rate did not dip.
Azam had left-arm spinner Nawaz as early as the 9th over – Mendis cut on furiously in the first over for a four. Shadab was introduced in the 16th and Mendis dropped down on one knee and slog-swept with power for a massive six. Haris Rauf, the enforcer at first change was not spared either. His first spell read 3-0-22-0.
Nissanka rode on Mendis’s momentum and clobbered 51 off 61. Then came Sadeera Samarawickrama, Mendis’ teammate from the U-19 days.
Rauf came back for a second dig, with a change of plan. Bouncers! Mendis hooked chest-level snorter ever so swiftly over midwicket. A ball later, bouncer to Samarawickrama – a swirl and six over square leg. Rauf 5-0-45-0.
Azam could do very little to stop this onslaught. He brought in Afridi in the 25th – 4, 4, 4 – all Mendis, Hasan Ali, the wicket-taker came back; Mendis smoked the first delivery of the spell over midwicket as if Ali is bowling military mediums. That maximum brought up Mendis’ century – the fastest for a Sri Lankan in the ODI World Cup, off 65 balls. It was mayhem at its best and the Hyderabad crowd, who swelled up to witness the last game at this venue were in for a treat.
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From that drop at 18 off 19 balls, Mendis took only 46 balls to hit the next 82 runs. By the time he departed for 122 off 77 balls, he had peeled off 14 fours and six sixes. Mendis has always been an enigma – when he comes good, he is so good to watch and when he doesn’t look like an absolute fool.
He has 114 ODI matches to his name, with a 50 in his debut in 2016. Always looked at SL’s next big thing in the middle-order, he had a tough time living up to the expectations. From 2017 to 2020 – there came a spell of 50 matches he did not reach the triple-figure mark even once and only seven scores over 50. And that had been the story of Mendis – ‘Smoke and Mirrors’.
But off late, Mendis has turned a corner and he has been able to string together a row of substantial scores and with the likes of Nissanka and Samarawickrama, who went on to craft a century of his own today, signs are good for SL cricket. In his last 10 ODI innings, Mendis now has one hundred, two 90-plus scores and two fifty-plus scores.
Mendis is riding high – with reckless abundance, but with a sublime touch.
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