Kusal Mendis hammers his fifth T20I fifty versus Bangladesh: Stats
Veteran Sri Lanka batter Kusal Mendis smoked a brilliant half-century in the opening T20I against Bangladesh in Sylhet. The opener paced his knock to perfection as he batted cautiously early on before shifting gears. During the course, Mendis became SL's fourth-highest run-getter in T20Is. Meanwhile, this was his fifth T20I fifty against Bangladesh. He ended up scoring a 36-ball 59 (6 fours, 3 sixes).
A magnificent hand from Mendis
SL lost Avishka Fernando (4) cheaply after being put on to bat first. Kamindu Mendis also departed after scoring 19. Mendis then found a potent partner in Sadeera Samarawickrama as the duo added 96 runs for the third wicket. Notably, Mendis brought up his fifty with two successive sixes off Rishad Hossain in the 12th over. Hossain eventually earned redemption by dismissing Mendis.
Here we look at his stats
Having raced to 1,432 runs in 62 T20Is at 23.86, Mendis surpassed Dasun Shanaka (1,405) and became SL's fourth-highest run-getter in T20Is. The former's strike rate reads 134.08. He is now only behind Tillakaratne Dilshan (1,889), Kusal Perera (1,677), and Mahela Jayawardene (1,493) Meanwhile, this was Mendis's 13th T20I fifty. Among SL players, only Dilshan (14) owns more 50-plus scores in T20Is.
Joint-most fifties versus BAN
Meanwhile, Mendis now owns 310 T20I runs versus Bangladesh at 51.66, striking at 166.66. He became the fourth batter to accomplish 300 T20I runs against the Tigers as the SL star has joined India's Rohit Sharma (454), Zimbabwe's Hamilton Masakadza (377), and compatriot Perera (366). Mendis also joined Rohit and Perera as batters with the joint-most T20I fifties versus Bangladesh (5).
Sri Lanka post a strong total
As mentioned, Mendis and Samarawickrama consolidated with a 96-run stand after Sri Lanka lost two wickets in the powerplay. The latter also slammed a fifty (61* off 48) as the hosts posted 206/3 in their allotted 20 overs. Skipper Charith Asalanka (44* off 21) also played a brilliant cameo in the end overs. Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed, and Hossain claimed one wicket apiece.
