Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal also acknowledged Mendis and Mathews had saved the game for his side, who were dominated by New Zealand over the first three days.
Opening batter Tim Seifert's blistering 88 helped New Zealand defeat Sri Lanka by four wickets in their thrilling third and final Twenty20 international in Queenstown on Saturday to complete a 2-1 series victory.
IMAGES from the ICC World Cup match played between South Africa and Sri Lanka in New Delhi on Saturday.
Dhananjaya de Silva and Angelo Mathews helped Sri Lanka to overcome a top-order collapse and reach 242-6 on Day one
Mohammad Nabi's game changing 65 off 32 balls came to nothing as Sri Lanka pulled off a thrilling two-run win over an audacious Afghanistan.
New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in the first T20I of the three-match series in Pallekele.
Images from the Asia Cup Super 4 match between India and Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Tuesday, September 12.
Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan says he felt he "was at war" when he decided to approach the umpire and demand Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews be 'timed out' for not being ready to face the bowling within two minutes of the fall of a wicket in the World Cup match in New Delhi on Monday.
A place in the final at stake, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh would expect their batsmen to fire as they lock horns in a virtual semi-final of the Nidahas Twenty20 tri-series, in Colombo, on Friday.
England fast bowler James Anderson took five wickets to inspire the hosts to a crushing victory over Sri Lanka by an innings and 88 runs in the first Test in Leeds on Saturday.
Sri Lanka were reeling on 86/6 in response to India's 252 on day one of the second Test, leaving the hosts 166 runs ahead so far in the day-night game.
The 30-year-old will lead the team while playing his first one-day game since 2015.
The Gautam Gambhir-led Indian team management has an opportunity to decide who among KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant will be India's long-term first-choice wicketkeeper-batter in ODIs
The spotlight will, however, continue to be on the 33-year-old Kohli in Mohali with the contest against Sri Lanka being his 100th Test match for the country.
Sri Lanka are no pushovers but they have faltered more often than not in this World Cup after an superlative show in the qualification round.
Paceman Thakur led India's disciplined effort with the ball to restrict Sri Lanka to a below-par 152 for nine in a rain-hit match which was reduced to a 19-overs-a-side contest.
It was the first time in Test cricket that a full day's play had been completed without a wicket falling since the first day of the second match between South Africa and Bangladesh on Feb. 29, 2008.
Australia will aim to secure a Super Eight berth when they face lower-ranked Namibia
Sri Lanka's Twenty20 captain Lasith Malinga will not be part of the 24-member squad for the second residential training camp, starting June 22 in Kandy, it was announced on Thursday. A six-member unit of coaches and other support staff will work with the players during the camp at the Pallekele stadium.
SL executed their plans well against the Indian batters, who are not the cleverest performers on rank turners, while not many are though.
England beat Sri Lanka by 211 runs inside four days in the first Test to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series at the Galle International Stadium on Friday.
Sri Lanka head coach Chris Silverwood minced no words in admitting that any team in the world would want a rampaging bowling attack like India.
Leg-spinner Adam Zampa on Monday revealed that he has been suffering from back spasm for the last couple of days, but that could not come in his way of producing a match-winning effort against Sri Lanka in the World Cup in Lucknow.
Sri Lanka set Australia a stiff 268-run victory target before claiming three wickets in a truncated afternoon session to take the upper hand on the penultimate day of the first Test in Pallekele on Friday.
Binura Fernando and Kasun Rajitha, who were named in the original squad, will not tour owing to injuries sustained during the SLC Invitational T20 League 2022.
Sri Lanka will arrive in South Africa on Saturday, with the first Test in Pretoria starting on Boxing Day. The second will be in Johannesburg from January 3.
Ahead of the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023, here's a full list of the final squads of all ten teams.
IMAGES from the T20 World Cup Super 12 match played between Australia and Sri Lanka in Perth on Tuesday.
Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka attributed his side's humiliating loss in the Asia Cup final to lack of application from batters and credited wrecker-in-chief Mohammed Siraj for his "outstanding" spell which set up India's 10-wicket win.
Images from the T20 World Cup match between Sri Lanka and Ireland, in Hobart, on Sunday.
England picked up three early wickets as Sri Lanka struggled to 218 for six at lunch on the third day of the third and final Test at Lord's on Saturday.
Images from Asia Cup Super 4s match played between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in Sharjah on Saturday.
Zaman was devastated, realising that luck had abandoned him when he needed it most.
After playing a major role in Chennai Super Kings' IPL triumph, young pace bowler Matheesha Pathirana will be hoping to make the same impact for Sri Lanka in the ODI series against Afghanistan.
Just when things looked to go well for Pakistan, Shadab dropped Bhanuka Rajapaksa at long on off Haris.
India edged Sri Lanka via the Super Over in a low-scoring thriller to register a 3-0 whitewash in the T20 International series in Pallekele, on Tuesday.
India's previous bilateral ODI series defeat against Sri Lanka came way back in 1997.
New Zealand find themselves in the a difficult group with two-time champions West Indies and Afghanistan also vying for the the top two spots.
Pacers Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Gamage have been added to the Sri Lankan squad ahead of the third Test against India starting in Pallekele on Saturday.
Captain Suryakumar Yadav smashed a brilliant half-century as India overpowered Sri Lanka by 43 runs in the first T20 International.
