Kusal Mendis becomes second Sri Lankan with 100 T20I caps
What's the story
Star Sri Lankan batter Kusal Mendis has accomplished a major milestone by becoming just the second player from his country to complete 100 appearances in the T20I format. The third and final T20I between Sri Lanka and England at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium marked his feat. Here we look at his stats in the format.
Stats
Mendis joins Shanaka in the club
As per ESPNcricinfo, Mendis, who made his T20I debut in 2016, became the second player after his skipper, Dasun Shanaka, to complete 100 caps for Sri Lanka in the T20I format. The latter leads the list with 124 matches under his name. Coming to his numbers, Mendis owns 2,399 runs in the format at an average of 25.52. His strike rate is 131.52.
DYK
Mendis only second to Pathum Nissanka
Notably, Mendis is narrowly behind Pathum Nissanka in terms of the SL batter with the most T20I runs. The latter owns 2,414 runs, as Kusal Perera (2,312) is the only other Lankan batter with over 2,000 T20I runs. Meanwhile, Mendis boasts 17 fifties in the format, with his best score being 86.
Information
49 dismissals behind the stumps
With the gloves in hand, Mendis has inflicted 49 T20I dismissals - the most for any Sri Lankan keeper. This includes 32 catches and 17 stumps. The legendary Kumar Sangakkara (45) is the only other Lankan keeper with 25-plus dismissals in the format.