Spinner Ajantha Mendis produced the best figures in Twenty20 internationals on Monday to bowl Sri Lanka to an eight-run win over Australia at the Pallakele Stadium and a 2-0 series win. Mendis bemused the Australian batsman to finish with six for 16 off four overs, including a maiden.
Hosts India might have outplayed them in the first three ODIs but Sri Lankan team management is keen to include experienced spinner Ajantha Mendis in the playing XI for the fourth ODI scheduled on Thursday.
Prior to the series, Sri Lanka had not won a game in any format since October but become the first team from Asia to win a Test series in South Africa as they comfortably chased down a victory target of 197 on the third day.
Captain Suryakumar Yadav smashed a brilliant half-century as India overpowered Sri Lanka by 43 runs in the first T20 International.
In-form Sri Lanka right-hander Kamindu Mendis is another player on the move, with the 26-year-old improving five places to 11th and reaching a new career-high rating after he scored another century in the second Test of his side's recent series with New Zealand.
India's previous bilateral ODI series defeat against Sri Lanka came way back in 1997.
If one has to analyse Ashwin the cricketer, it is very difficult to ignore Ashwin, the person, who had a very independent mind and a brain that probably ticked 24x7. He believed in de-construction of his art and became craftier one ball at a time.
Images from the 1st ODI between India and Sri Lanka in Colombo on Friday.
The fate of the series was decided after India swept aside Sri Lanka in the first two games, leaving the possibility of an embarrassing whitewash hanging over the hosts' heads.
Sri Lanka's Dunith Wellalage and Harshitha Samarawickrama were named as the ICC Players of the Month for August 2024.
Mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis registered the best figures in World Twenty20 with a magical-haul of six wickets for eight runs to help Sri Lanka crush Zimbabwe by 82 runs in the tournament opener.
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
Ajantha Mendis might have created flutter in cricketing circles with his stupendous performance in the Asia Cup, but the Sri Lankan mystery bowler has failed to impress spin guru Terry Jenner, who has pointed out at chinks in his armour. Jenner feels Mendis lacks variety and still has a long way to go to prove his mettle in the international circuit.
Young Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis said he was looking forward to bowl to the famous Indian batting 'quartet' in the Test series.
Another Sri Lankan batter made his way to the record books with Dimuth Karunaratne...
Spinner Ajantha Mendis became the fastest bowler to take 50 wickets in one-day internationals as Sri Lanka defeated Zimbabwe by 130 runs in their first match of the tri-series tournament in Dhaka on Monday.
The unorthodox spinner has been promoted to the rank of second lieutenant in the army after his match-winning exploits at the Asia Cup.
Admitting that Indian batsmen have started to unravel his secrets, Lankan spin sensation Ajantha Mendis said the 'Men in Blue' had played him relatively well in the ODI series.
Virender Sehwag's technique or the lack of it often invites criticism but Sri Lankan mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis says the swashbuckling right-hander is the only Indian batsman he found difficult to bowl to in the recently-concluded Test and ODI series.
Spinner Ajantha Mendis took four wickets and Kumar Sangakkara scored a meticulous century as Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 64 runs in their Asian Cup super league match.
Spinner Ajantha Mendis and fast bowler Dilhara Fernando are back in Sri Lanka's Test squad for the tour of South Africa next month, the selectors announced on Tuesday.
Spinner Ajantha Mendis claimed 5-56 as Sri Lanka dismissed India for 249 on the first day of the third Test.
India Test captain Anil Kumble is confident his experienced top order would cope with Sri Lanka's new spin sensation Ajantha Mendis. Mendis, 23, destroyed India's top order in the Asia Cup final earlier this month, claiming 6 for 13, but Kumble backed his strong Test line-up to cope better than the one-day team.
Sanath Jayasuriya and Sri Lanka's latest spin sensation Ajantha Mendis led Sri Lanka to a five-wicket victory over Pakistan in the Canada Twenty20 final.
Australia will aim to secure a Super Eight berth when they face lower-ranked Namibia
Rajneesh Gupta presents a detailed statistical analysis of the tournament.
Ajantha Mendis wrecked havoc when India toured Sri Lanka in 2008 but senior batsman Rahul Dravid is hopeful that this time around he and his colleagues are better equipped to tackle the 'mystery' spinner in the forthcoming Test series, beginning in Galle next month.
Rohit Sharma closes in on Babar Azam at the top of the ODI rankings for batters
Wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal and spinner Ajantha Mendis were left out of the Sri Lanka squad of 15 for the two-Ttest series against Pakistan, starting at Galle next week. Chandimal lost his place to Niroshan Dickwella, who made his Test debut in the second Test against South Africa in Colombo last week and scored a half-century.
His decision followed questioning by the Criminal Investigation Department with regard to an alleged refusal to relinquish documents to sports ministry officials.
Sri Lanka hope spinner Ajantha Mendis can be fit for the opening World Twenty20 Super Eight match with New Zealand on Thursday after he returned to the nets following a side strain.
Ajantha Mendis bettered his own T20 record by taking six wickets for just eight runs as Sri Lanka walloped minnows Zimbabwe by 82 runs in the opening match of the World Twenty20 tournament in Hambantota on Tuesday.
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.
Former Hull City wing back Bernard Mendy scored through a stunning bicycle kick as hosts Chennaiyin FC beat Kerala Blasters 2-1 in a Hero Indian Super League match on Tuesday.
New Zealand eye consolatory win over PNG
Ajantha Mendis claimed career-best figures of 5 for 22 as Sri Lanka cruised to a 142-run victory over the United Arab Emirates in the Asia Cup cricket tournament at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore on Thursday night. The UAE lost their last six wickets for only 15 runs and were dismissed 148 in 36.3 overs.
Rohit Sharma, did not mind losing the toss and said he would have batted first nonetheless and "under the lights, it will be nice for the seamers to bowl".
Praising Sri Lanka's mystery bowler Ajantha Mendis's showing against the star-studded Indian batting line-up in the just concluded three-Test series, former Australian coach John Buchanan says the youngster should be judged on a long-term basis. "Mendis reminds me a bit of Johnny Gleeson, though he releases the ball much quicker, is taller and stronger. He also has good change of pace," he told newspersons in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Ajantha Mendis remained an unsolved mystery for the Indian cricket team during the Test series but skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni says the Sri Lankan spin wizard would not be much of a threat if openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir go after his loose deliveries in the one-dayers starting on Monday.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni believes Sri Lanka's new bowling weapon, Ajantha Mendis, will provide the sternest of tests on their tour of the island.
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