Galle: Sri Lanka middle-order batter Kamindu Mendis smashed his fourth Test century against the Kiwis here on Wednesday.
Mendis continued a remarkable start to his Test career with a spectacular fourth Test hundred in just his seventh Test match.
Promoted to No.5 after his excellent showing on the England tour, Mendis helped Sri Lanka fight back from 106/4 to finish on 302/7 at stumps.
The middle-order batter was the final wicket to fall on day one after an Ajaz Patel delivery reared up to hit his gloves and go to the slip cordon.
Mendis' 173-ball 114 is his fourth Test ton, but notably, he has made a fifty-plus score at least once in each of his first seven Tests, a world record in this format that he shares with Pakistan's Saud Shakeel, who achieved the same last year
Mendis now has centuries in Sylhet (twice), Manchester and Galle, but this last one is special according to the batter.
"This is my hometown, and Richmond College, the school I went to, is here," Kamindu said after the day's play.
"There was a thought swirling around my head that I had to hit a hundred here. But to be honest you shouldn't be happy with just a hundred as a batsman. You need to go further than that. Unfortunately I got out," ha said.
Mendis' extraordinary start in whites has seen him accumulate 809 runs in 11 innings, averaging a mind-blowing 80.9 in the format, the highest for any batter after Sir Donald Bradman with a minimum of 10 Test innings.
In the current World Test Championship cycle, Mendis has the best average for any batter, making 748 runs in 10 innings at 83.11 with four hundreds. Only Joe Root has made more hundreds (5) in this cycle of the WTC.
Kamindu, who made 61 on his Test debut against Australia in 2022, hit top gear against Bangladesh earlier this year. He kicked off in Sylhet with 102 in the first innings and a stunning 164 in the second, followed by an unbeaten 92 in Chattogram.
Against England, he dazzled with 113 at Old Trafford, added 74 at Lord's, and wrapped up with 64 at The Oval as Sri Lanka won a Test match on English soil for the first time in a decade.
