Kusal Mendis of Sri Lanka has been playing well in the current ODI series against Bangladesh. Thilina Kandamby, Sri Lanka’s batting coach, thinks Mendis can turn his fifties into massive hundreds, though. The home team will rely on their seasoned batter to perform well once more in the third and final ODI, which is scheduled on July 8 in Pallekele.
As of the now, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are tied 1-1 in their ODI series. In the first ODI, Kusal scored 45 runs off 43 balls.
In the second match of the series, he hit the fastest-ever 20-ball fifty at Khettarama. In the second game, Sri Lanka was unable to chase down 249 despite his valiant efforts. Prior to the final, Kandamby commended Kusal ‘ contribution but pushed the prolific batter to do more.
“He is an experienced player who has played a lot of cricket and provided us a great start in the first game. He needs to turn those starts into hundreds, and he needs to realise that immediately. We win 90–95% of our games if he scores 100. ESPNcricinfo cited Kandamby as saying, “He knows that, too.”
Pallekele appears to be a good hitter: Thilina Kandamby
Kusal might have scored 150 to 200 in the first ODI and had a greater effect than he did, the coach underlined. Kandamby also considered how Mendis would profit from the Pallekele conditions.
“Pallekele appears to be a good batsman. Additionally, I believe there will be a good bounce. We have batting-friendly surfaces, and a lot of runs have been scored here in the past year, if you look at the last few games at Pallekele. “I hope that keeps up,” Kandamby said.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, will feel secure following their second ODI victory, which followed a strong all-around performance. Charith Asalanka, the captain of Sri Lanka, was removed by Shamim Hossain. The middle order of Sri Lanka was destroyed by Tanvir Islam’s five-wicket haul.