At tea, Sri Lanka stands strong at 519 for 5 against New Zealand, with Kamindu Mendis on 135 not out and Kusal Mendis contributing a solid 70. Kamindu’s fifth Test century came in just his 13th innings, while Kusal notched his 20th half-century as the pair added 117 runs in the session. This performance underscores Sri Lanka’s dominance, having now batted out as many sessions as they have lost wickets.
Kamindu’s century follows a 116 from Dinesh Chandimal on day one, marking him as the second centurion of the innings. The partnership between the Mendis duo is the third century stand in this innings, which also includes a 97-run and a 74-run partnership.
New Zealand’s bowlers have faced significant challenges, with Ajaz Patel going for 135 runs without taking a wicket and Mitchell Santner conceding 82 runs, also wicketless. The Kiwi bowlers are just 11 overs away from a third new ball but have struggled to make breakthroughs.
Kamindu nearly lost his wicket several times, including a close call against Ajaz Patel that wicketkeeper Tom Blundell missed. The review for an lbw decision went in his favor, and another caught-behind appeal showed the ball had hit his pad instead of the bat.
In the morning session, Glenn Phillips claimed two crucial wickets, dismissing Angelo Mathews for 88 and Dhananjaya de Silva in the final over before lunch. Kamindu began the day with 51 runs and reached his century early in the afternoon, celebrating modestly as he continues to build on an impressive innings. Currently, he has 957 Test runs, and if he scores another 43, he will become the fastest player to reach 1000 Test runs since 1950 based on innings played.
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