Mystery Spinner Ajantha Mendis - New Episode of Sri Lankan Spin

Wayamba thrash Central Districts for consolation win – Mendis took 3/14

September 28, 2010 at 12:13 am No comments

Wayamba 144 for 6 (Mubarak 30, Mason 2-16) beat Central Districts 70 (Griggs 19, Mendis 3-14, Udana 3-22) by 74 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Ajantha Mendis removed both openers, Central Districts v Wayamba, Champions League Twenty20, Port Elizabeth, September 22, 2010

Ajantha Mendis snapped up three wickets in Wayamba’s thumping win © AFP

Isuru Udana’s exploits with the slower ball and Central Districts’ insipid performance with the bat helped Wayamba salvage a consolation win and inflict a fourth consecutive defeat on their opponents. On a track hardly threatening for batting, Wayamba struggled through periods of stagnation to reach a score that appeared inadequate but Udana, whose stock ball is the slower delivery, made it a formidable one with the tournament’s first hat-trick. He was supported well by the spinners amid a spineless chase, which undermined a disciplined effort by the Central Districts bowlers early in the day.

Central Districts had been the better of the two teams in the run-up to this game, particularly in their batting, and were favourites to avoid a whitewash after their bowlers had stifled Wayamba. There was little movement on offer, the pitch was slightly on the slower side and the bowlers had to earn their wickets with their variations. Ajantha Mendis reaped success with the googly, Rangana Herath bowled the carrom ball while Udana flummoxed the batsmen with deliveries that were just around the 100kmph mark. The frequency with which Udana delivers the slower ball would give you the impression the batsmen know what to expect. But the Central Districts top order, previously unexposed to his bowling, was unprepared and thoroughly deceived.

The start to the chase gave little indication of what was to follow as the in-form Jamie How smacked Udana for a six and a four in the square-leg region. Mendis shared the new ball and delivered, removing How with a straighter delivery that caught him plumb and enabling Udana to target the rest. The slower delivery with the new ball proved lethal due to the accompanying bounce, snaring Brad Patton who was surprised with one that cut back in and spat to catch the leading edge. Mathew Sinclair was next, losing his balance to a wide down the leg side to be stumped. George Worker then probably guessed right but played inside the line to a delivery that didn’t nip back in as much as he expected and was bowled. Central Districts were 16 for 4 in the third over and Wayamba had seized control.

The spinners then shut Central Districts out. Peter Ingram doesn’t like to move his feet and his failure to pick the googly resulted in a straightforward lbw; Kieran Noema-Barnett had a rush of blood when trying to catch up with the creeping required rate and holed out in the deep; Brendon Diamanti was done in by a quicker delivery from Herath, though replays suggested the ball brushed the pad on the way to the keeper; and Bevan Griggs, fighting a losing battle, fell victim to an outstanding catch by captain Jehan Mubarak, who leapt full length to his left and snapped the ball, already behind him, with one hand. Game over.

That catch was preceded by a crucial contribution with the bat from Mubarak. Unlike their collapses against Chennai Super Kings and Victoria Bushrangers, the batsmen showed greater determination to occupy the crease and build the innings, but it wasn’t without struggle. Mahela Jayawardene hit the right notes with a positive start but his dismissal marked the beginning of a grind. The seamers had doled out some freebies and wides during their early stint but the introduction of Worker’s left-arm spin and Noema-Barnett’s medium pace choked the flow of runs.

Mahela Udawatte was the main reason for Wayamba’s decline, failing to force the bowlers away. He limped to 23 off 37 balls before holing out to long-on while Mubarak had to compensate for the slow pace with some meaty hits.

Mubarak broke a 23-ball boundary drought in the 10th over with a delicate guide off Worker to the third-man boundary and drilled Noema-Barnett for two sixes. But Central Districts struck back with his wicket and just five runs in the 16th and 17th overs. Too often the Wayamba batsmen made room but failed to connect while being consistently restrained by the spate of slower deliveries and blockhole lengths. The release Wayamba needed came in the penultimate over with Shalika Karunanayake hammering Seth Rance for a straight six and carting him over extra cover, helping pick 20 with wicketkeeper Kushal Perera. The late surge infused some respectability to the score. As it turned out, they’d got too far.

Innings	Dot balls	4s	6s	Powerplay	16-20 overs	NB/Wides

Waymaba	70	9	6	44/2	45/2	1/12
Central Districts	57	5	1	35/5	2/1 (15-15.3)	0/4

Siddhartha Talya is a sub editor at Cricinfo

Ajantha Mendis, Twenty20 none

Mendis’ efforts to improve batting pay off – Maiden Half Century

August 6, 2010 at 11:17 pm No comments

Sa’adi Thawfeeq at the P Sara Oval

August 6, 2010

Ajantha Mendis helped rescue Sri Lanka’s second innings after the top-order collapsed © AFP

The Sri Lankan team management’s efforts to improve the batting of their tailenders have paid rich dividends during the Test series against India, with No. 10 Ajantha Mendis making a potentially match-winning 78 on the fourth day at the P Sara Oval. His effort followed half-centuries by Rangana Herath and Lasith Malinga in the first Test in Galle.

Mendis made his maiden first-class half-century and, with Thilan Samaraweera, added 118 runs for the ninth wicket to help lift Sri Lanka from 125 for 8 to 267, setting India a target of 257 to draw the three-Test series.

“When I went into bat I faced a difficult situation and I was determined to support Thilan (Samaraweera) in his endeavour to get some runs on the board,” Mendis said. “I concentrated quite a lot and at the same time the wicket didn’t do much and that also helped. I was able to build a good partnership with Thilan and bring the side to a good position.

“My initial thoughts were to get the team up to a total of around 150 but as my confidence grew I thought of scoring as many runs as possible. My intention was to accumulate runs and even a single was valuable at that time because it was going to cause problems for the side batting last.”

Mendis said he had not concentrated much on his batting because he was doing a lot of work with his bowling when he joined the Sri Lankan team. “But I realised I had to improve my batting also and during practice I concentrated a lot in that area. Manoj Chanaka (a member of the support staff) helped me in my batting with the bowling machine and I also got practice from the Under-19 bowlers, which has led to the improvement in my batting.”

Mendis was confident Sri Lanka would wrap up the Test by mid-afternoon on the final day if they managed a few wickets in the morning session. “There is a tendency for wickets to fall in the morning session and we should be able to make use of that opportunity.”

Ajantha Mendis, Test none

Teams play out high-scoring draw – Ajantha took 4/172

July 31, 2010 at 6:49 am No comments

The Bulletin by Siddhartha Talya

July 30, 2010

Sri Lanka 642 for 4 dec (Sangakkara 219, Jayawardene 174, Paranavitana 100) and 129 for 3 dec (Sangakkara 42*, Paranavitana 34) drew with India 707 (Tendulkar 203, Raina 120, Mendis 4-172)
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

The second Test laboured to its predictable end but not without some encouraging signs for India on the final day. The tenth-wicket pair of Ishant Sharma and Pragyan Ojha, who had offered resistance in Galle, repeated the feat with more ease and kept the Sri Lankan bowlers at bay for 27.1 overs before the Indian bowlers, who have been dominated in this series, took three wickets, auguring well for the final Test at the P Sara Stadium.

The start to the Sri Lankan second innings, however, gave little indication that India’s bowlers would do better. The seamers often dropped short and Tharanga Paranavitana promptly slashed both Abhimanyu Mithun and Ishant Sharma for boundaries through point. He also cashed in when the ball was pitched up, driving Ishant confidently down the ground. Mithun got a bit of movement with the new ball and beat Paranavitana on a couple of occasions, but it was a short delivery that earned him a breakthrough as Tillakaratne Dilshan mistimed a pull to midwicket.

Though the run-flow remained steady, the spinners targeted the footmarks to unsettle the batsmen. They found grip as well as some extra bounce, prompting MS Dhoni to attack with more close-in fielders. Harbhajan Singh bowled fuller than he had in the first innings and occasionally got sharp turn against the left-handers when coming round the wicket. Paranavitana, who had scored a century in each of his two innings before this, edged one straight to slip.

Harbhajan, who had three slips at one stage, almost put an end to Mahela Jayawardene’s prolific run by inducing a top-edged sweep but was denied by Mithun’s misjudgement in the deep. The turn eventually did Jayawardene in, as he was hit on the pads by Virender Sehwag, though replays suggested the ball would have missed leg stump. Sri Lanka saw through some testing overs by Ojha before Kumar Sangakkara and Dhoni decided to end the game 70 minutes before the scheduled close of play.

The improved performance with the ball backed up a spirited stand by Ishant and Ojha, who took India to their highest score in an overseas Test in also their longest innings away from home in terms of overs faced. Sangakkara persisted with spin for the first hour and the batsmen survived a few close shaves: several lbw appeals, though none were close enough, a run-out attempt and an edge that just fell short of slip. But Ishant and Ojha were largely comfortable, firm in defence, adept at picking Ajantha Mendis’ variations on a slow pitch and committed to delaying the Sri Lankan second innings. Runs came at a trickle, and the highlight for each batsman was an elegant cover drive for four.

The fast bowlers had a bit more to cheer, as they ruffled the tailenders with some short deliveries when brought on after the drinks break. Ojha preferred to back away than play from the crease, and Ishant, though more assured, eventually spooned a catch to gully off Dilhara Fernando to end Sri Lanka’s frustration. Sangakkara, however, will be presumably discouraged that his bowling attack, irrespective of the match-winners missing from the first Test and the flat track on offer, took as long as it did to finish things off.

In a contest between two weakened bowling line-ups, it was Sri Lanka, despite their troubles on the final day, who did better. The three-wicket burst on the third morning by Mendis and Suraj Randiv had given the visitors a genuine scare, and it could have got worse had Sachin Tendulkar, who was dropped on 29, and Suresh Raina, who survived a close lbw shout, not had their moments of fortune. But a more rewarding final day for the Indian bowlers, particularly their spinners, should give them some reason for cheer going into the third Test.

Siddhartha Talya is an editorial assistant at Cricinfo

Ajantha Mendis, Test none

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