Another
flowing century stand between Kusal Mendis and Danushka Gunathilaka formed the basis of Sri Lanka's
commanding 316 for 5 against Zimbabwe in Galle, with Upul Tharanga also contributing an intelligent 79 not
out.
The young batsmen had also been impressive during the Champions
Trophy - their long partnership against India led to Sri Lanka's only victory in the
tournament - and their association in Galle followed a familiar template. There
were moments of fortune for Gunathilaka, but otherwise, the two men were quick
to punish poor balls, and manipulated the field with precision. Mendis
top-scored again, with 86 off 80 deliveries.
Zimbabwe's spinners found some turn, but it was mostly of the slow
variety, rather than the fast, ripping spin that is often seen at Galle. The
lack of genuine menace in the middle overs saw Sri Lanka move almost unchecked
through parts of their innings, and a score in excess of 300 looked likely from
the early overs. Seamer Tendai Chatara returned the best figures, claiming a
wicket at either end of the innings, while also going at only 5.44 per over.
Sean Williams, Graeme Cremer and Solomon Mire all claimed a wicket a piece.
Mendis' innings was fluent from the outset. He slapped Chatara in
front of point, and then wide of mid-on, for successive fours in the ninth over
as he claimed a steady string of fuss-free runs into the outfield while the
ball was still new and the pitch afforded the quicks a little movement.
Soon, though, the surface flattened out completely, and Mendis
began to make batting seem effortless. A disdainful pull off Mire at the end of
the 17th over took him past 1000 ODI runs, making him the joint second-fastest
Sri Lankan to the milestone, after Roy Dias (Mendis did it in 28 innings; Dias
in 27). Not long after that, he flitted down the pitch and smote the left-arm
spin of Williams over midwicket, against the turn. With that shot, Mendis
reached his 11th career fifty. Since his debut in June last year, no other
player has made more 50-plus scores in ODI cricket - Joe Root tied with Mendis
at the top of that table, with 12 such scores.
Gunathilaka had, meanwhile, reached his own half-century the
previous over, but his progress had not been as assured as Mendis'. Early in
his innings, he flirted with deliveries from Donald Tiripano that left the bat,
and in the 16th over, edged a Mire delivery, only for the ball to fall short of
the keeper. But in between the strokes of good fortune, which included a
top-edged six off Mire, there was some typically elegant strokeplay.
In the sixth over, bowled by Tiripano, Gunathilaka had hit an
imperious straight boundary and a commanding pull. Later on, he took Mendis'
lead in systematically mining the outfield for singles. With Sri Lanka
advancing so smoothly through the middle overs, there was perhaps no reason to
venture the reverse sweep off Williams that got him out. Perhaps, that shot was
the result of wanting to raise his strike rate, as he was on 60 off 76 balls at
the time. Nevertheless, the partnership - worth 117 off 127 balls - had set Sri
Lanka on track for a strong total.
In the company of Tharanga, who was immediately comfortable at the
crease despite having moved down to No. 4 in the batting order, Mendis began to
bat with even more freedom - though that ambition also perhaps bring about his
downfall. Having come down the pitch to launch Cremer over the straight
boundary, Mendis was beaten in the flight two balls later, and sent a catch off
the leading edge that was sharply held by the bowler.
Tharanga continued unflustered, however. He bided his time while
Angelo Mathews blasted a 30-ball 43 to enliven the back half of the middle
overs, and after Mathews' dismissal, switched to a more aggressive frame of
mind. Flitting around the crease in the final overs, he struck 30 runs off the
last 18 balls he faced, completing his 33rd career fifty in the process.
Between him, Mathews and Asela Gunaratne, who contributed a spry 28 from 26,
Sri Lanka managed 78 in the last 10 overs.
