Mendis mystery continues to haunt batsmen

It's been almost a year since the July 6, 2008 Asia Cup final between India and Sri Lanka in Karachi. A certain Ajantha Mendis spun
his way 'mysteriously' into our collective consciousness with a spell of 6 for 13 in 8 overs to bowl Sri Lanka to a 100-run victory. He also had 17 wickets in the tournament from five games, winning him the Man of the Series award.

A couple of weeks later, he terrorised India's batsmen, including the fabled 'Fab Four', to grab 26 wickets in a three-match Test series in Lanka. He won the Man of the Series award again. The word 'mystery spinner' and 'carrom ball' became as much a part of cricket vocabulary as 'mid-on' and 'mid-off'. Batsmen were wary of facing him, at least in Sri Lanka or the subcontinent.

While conditions in England have been different from Sri Lanka, Mendis, a gunman in the Sri Lankan army, has managed to have the same effect on rival teams, shooting down batsmen in the World T20. His Man-of-the-Match winning effort of 3/9 in three overs against New Zealand at Trent Bridge enabled Sri Lanka to enter the semifinals as Group F toppers.

Mendis now has 10 wickets from five games and is fourth on the wicket-takers' list behind Umar Gul (12 wkts), Saeed Ajmal (11 wkts) and teammate Lasith Malinga (11). And he has done it by bowling straight and getting his victims either bowled or leg-before.

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori conceded after the game that getting after him was difficult. "Ross Taylor tried to get after him and target the short boundaries, but couldn't. You just have to admire the quality of bowling that was on view. Mendis bowled exceptionally well today," he said.

Normally, rival spin bowlers find it hard to find praiseworthy words for other spinners. Not Vettori, though. "It's no use blaming the batsmen for not doing the job. A lot of our batsmen picked Mendis today, but we found it very difficult to score off him. We all saw the turn that he got and that made it even harder for us to score off him."

The left-arm-spinner also refused to tag him as a mystery spinner. "He is not a mystery bowler. He is just a very good bowler with exceptional skill."

Before the start of the tournament, Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara had mentioned how it was important for Mendis to keep evolving and increasing his variations, as batsmen would soon figure him out. One year into the job as a mystery bowler, does Mendis feel that batsmen are figuring him out?

Mahela Jayawardene, who acted as interpreter for Mendis, said, "Even if the batsmen pick him, they find it difficult to score off him as he bowls very straight. (That's partly why he gets so many leg-before and bowled dismissals)."

What about the rest of the batsmen in the Sri Lankan batting line-up? "We do pick up, but he has got a lot of tricks in his trade. He does so many things with his fingers that it's difficult to keep track of things," Mahela, an expert in playing spin bowling, admitted. He also praised the role of Muralitharan in Mendis' rise.

Mendis is one of the many freakish talents that Sri Lankan cricket has produced. Be it Muttiah Muralitharan, Lasith Malinga, Sanath Jayasuriya and Ajantha Mendis, all of them are exceptionally successful playing cricket in an unorthodox manner. Mahela credits that to the amount of craze there is for cricket in Sri Lanka.

"Everyone wants to pick up a bat or a ball and imitate a Jayasuriya or a Murali. They are such good role models," Jayawardene said. With so much video analysis and team meetings, one is amazed that Mendis' enigma has still not been unravelled. Surely, the man himself enjoys the tag of being a 'mystery' bowler.

Source : TOI

Sangakkara hails Mendis after victory against New Zealand

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara saluted beguiling spinner Ajantha Mendis on Tuesday after his side reached the World Twenty20 semi-finals with a 48-run win over New Zealand.

Sri Lanka join fellow unbeaten side South Africa as well as Pakistan and West Indies in the last four.

Mendis took 3-9 at a crucial time when the Kiwis were well-placed at 64-2, chasing 159 to win.

"Ajantha was brilliant. He is very difficult to read and he has an attacking mindset. It's a great ability to have," said Sangakkara.

"He has a great leg break, but he varies his deliveries depending on whether or not he is bowling to a left- or right-hander."

Sri Lanka will play the second semi-final at the Oval on Friday against either South Africa or, more probably, the West Indies.

Despite their perfect record in the competition, Sangakkara believes there is still room for improvement.

"It was a great batting performance from Tillekaratne Dilshan (48). He was brilliant," added the skipper, who insisted he always believed his side could win despite the Black Caps' storming start to their reply.

"We knew that after the first six overs, and the fielding restrictions were lifted, we could pull them back. Now we can build on all of this and see where it takes us."

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, whose team would have made the semi-finals had they won as their run-rate was better then the Sri Lankans', admitted batting had let them down.

"It was a gettable total today but in three major matches our highest score was 120," he said.

"We got off to a decent start, then capitulated in the middle. But thay have a wonderful attack and deserved to win.

"We had a very comfortable draw. We played a couple of minnows and were then in a position to reach the semi-finals. But we didn't take our opportunities."

Source : AFP

Mendis should’ve been played more by KKR - Sangakkara

The Bridgeford Road in Nottingham on Monday night might well have been a street in Colombo with all the tooting car horns and waving Sri Lanka flags. It was a fantastic atmosphere and we savoured the moment after having outplayed Australia. That was the start and not the end of the World Twenty20, but our win against West Indies suggests that we have been able to carry that energy forward. Hopefully, the same will happen against Pakistan as well.

As captain, though, I am naturally delighted that we have started this tournament so positively, considering the tough group in which we were placed. I knew we had the skills and ability to top the group, it was just a matter of whether we had the self-belief on the match days — we answered that emphatically showing just how close-knit a unit we have become.

I know there were many that had written us off after the warm-up games, but to be honest that was not a big concern for me. Sri Lanka has never had a good record in warm-up games ahead of big events.

Special mention needs to be made for the spinners, Ajantha (Mendis) and Murali. They are magicians and they give us an X-factor.

In fact, I was surprised that Mendis did not play more games for the Knight Riders during the IPL. If used properly, Mendis is a genuine match-winner.

Sangakkara all praise for Mendis

Nottingham: Calling Ajantha Mendis “an attacking bowler,” Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara said bowlers of his ilk were a rarity.

“In Twenty20 cricket where the batsman has to attack almost every delivery he faces, to have a bowler like Mendis, with that mystery and that unpredictability, definitely adds to the attack,” said Sangakkara after Sri Lanka’s six-wicket win over Australia at Trent Bridge on Monday.

Ricky Ponting admitted that his side missed Andrew Symonds, who was sent home ahead of the tournament for breaching alcohol-related team rules. “His (Symonds) departure upset a lot of structures around the team,” the Aussie skipper said.

“Andrew is one of the best international players in this form of the game anywhere in the world. When you lose someone of that ability, it throws a spanner in your works.”

Ponting said he found it hard to comprehend Australia’s run of losses in T20.

“Actually, it is a worrying trend for the team and the group. We will address some of the areas we have been lacking in.

Sangakkara, Ponting hail Mendis

Ricky Ponting is bowled by Ajantha Mendis, Australia v Sri Lanka, ICC World Twenty20, Trent Bridge, June 8, 2009

Sri Lanka began their World Twenty20 campaign by ending Australia's stay in the competition. Their captain Kumar Sangakkara, leading the side for the first time, remained unbeaten and secured victory but reserved special mention for Ajantha Mendis, who revelled in his first outing against Australia in any format.

Ricky Ponting concurred, calling Mendis a "unique bowler" whom they had studied but failed to counter effectively. "We've all had an opportunity to see plenty of video footage of him, but when you're in a Twenty20 game and you've got to go out there and play a certain way, you've got to take the challenge up to the bowlers," Ponting, who was one of Mendis' victims, said. "Today he got the better of us.

"He certainly had a big impact on the game. That was probably the difference in the game that their spinner did dictate to us a little bit through the middle of our batting innings."

On the eve of the game Sangakkara had said that Mendis would have to adapt accordingly as batsmen became familiar with his modus operandi, dissecting him with the help of video analysis. The Australians, however, did not have first-hand experience of playing him and the result was 3 for 20 in four overs. He bowled Ponting with one that went the other way, halting a promising innings of 25 off 15 balls; trapped Shane Watson lbw and breached Michael Hussey's defences as well.

"In a Twenty20 game, where you have to attack almost every ball you play, to have unpredictability, that mystery around him [Mendis] is good," Sangakkara said. "Batsmen will get on top of him on some days but more often than not he's a wicket-taking bowler, an attacking bowler."

Sangakkara expressed surprise at Mendis not being a regular of the Kolkata Knight Riders but said the very fact that he was part of the Twenty20 tournament in South Africa, along with 12 other Sri Lankans, would have helped immensely. It may be coincidence but the players from countries with lesser Twenty20 match practice leading into the World Twenty20 - Pakistan, Bangladesh and Australia - have struggled in England.

"Even if some of the players did not get consistent games, the fact that they were there, rubbing shoulders with some of the greats of the game, learning from that experience [has helped them]. They were training hard, learning to innovate and it kept them on their toes."

Sri Lanka, as a cricket team and country, has gone through rough times in recent months. Today's game was their first international since the team survived the terror attacks in Lahore and their country recently witnessed the end of a bloody 26-year war. They were reminded of that strife as they approached the venue, where 70 pro-Tamil supporters were holding a lawful protest outside the ground. Sangakkara, though, said that playing cricket was their focus and the team wouldn't bother about anything that was outside their control.

Three hours later, though, the scene outside Trent Bridge had changed remarkably. The protesters had dissipated and the only sounds emanating from outside the ground were deliriously happy Sri Lankan, and Irish, fans singing and drumming they way down Bridgford Road.

Mendis Magic leads Australia out of T20 World Cup

Sri Lanka eliminated Australia from the ICC World Twenty20 with a six-wicket victory at Trent Bridge. Kumar Sangakkara played a captain's innings to lead them across the line, with an over to spare, as they chased 160 after Tillakaratne Dilshan sparked the pursuit with an innovative 53 off 32 balls. Australia were set back by a magnificent display from Ajantha Mendis, who bamboozled with his variations, and although the match went to the final over Sri Lanka always held the edge to book their Super Eights berth.

Australia's stay in this tournament - the international title they don't hold - lasted three days and now they face two extra weeks in Leicester to prepare for the Ashes series. Make no mistake, they desperately wanted to win this event, and further stock their trophy cabinet, but were short on their skills for the second game running against a highly impressive Sri Lanka outfit.

With Sangakkara at the crease there was a sense of calm about the run-chase, even when the asking rate grew in excess of nine-per-over for a moment in the closing stages, and he was aided by a sparkling cameo from Jehan Mubarak. When Mubarak came to the crease a charged-up Brett Lee had bounced out Chamara Silva and he followed it up with three dot balls. However, Lee sent down a wide and the extra ball of the over was clouted over deep midwicket and you could see Australian shoulders slump.

In the next over Sangakkara, one of the most impressive cricketers in the world on and off the field, completed a classy fifty off 40 balls with a delicate dab-sweep off Nathan Backen. With 14 needed off two overs there was no way back for Australia and Mubarak cleared the ropes again before a wide sealed their elimination.

When Australia slumped to 94 for 6 in the 15th over the match was shaping to be very one-sided, but they added 65 runs in the last five overs to give the bowlers something to defend. However, they needed early wickets and despite a fine catch by David Warner to remove Sanath Jayasuriya the game was carried away from them through a fine innings from Dilshan.

He took 16 off Shane Watson's flustered first over, showing his full range of shots including a mow over midwicket and a deft sweep over fine leg, while his 26-ball half-century arrived with an extraordinarily cheeky top-edge flick over the wicketkeeper's head. Dilshan needed some convincing to opening the batting, but his elevation has been a revelation and he has the power to clear the in-field but also the subtle touch to manoeuvre the ball.

It needed a cracking delivery from Michael Clarke - his first - that pitched on leg, spun and hit middle to end Dilshan's innings and a period of tight bowling from the spinners gave Australia a slim lifeline. Sangakkara and Mahela Jaywardene were content to deal in singles, but with the run-rate climbing fractionally Jaywardene tried to go over the top and got an outside edge to backward point.

Sangakkara, though, knew perfectly when to pick his moments and deposited Nathan Haurtiz for two sixes in his last over, which went for 16. Lee, under huge pressure after his pasting at the hands of West Indies, tried to conjure a comeback but Australia just hadn't made enough runs.

The tone had been set in the first over of the match when Warner carved Angelo Mathews - a surprise new-ball option on his debut - to point but the key was always going to be Sri Lanka's spin. Watson and Ricky Ponting had begun to locate the boundary regularly when Mendis was thrown the ball for the final over of the Powerplay and the game changed.

He could have had Watson leg before with his first ball as he was beaten by one turning from leg to off, then with the final delivery of a brilliant over he uprooted Ponting's leg stump as the captain backed away. In his next over Mendis nailed Watson on the sweep and the new batsmen were prodding and poking uncertainly against his multitude of variations.

However, it's not just with spin that Sri Lanka's attack has a magical touch. Lasith Malinga's first over had been expensive, but he is an irresistible cricketer who can produce wonderful moments and a superbly disguised slower ball made Brad Haddin look foolish as it dipped late and took out two stumps.

Captains can often be left scratching their heads in Twenty20, but today everything Sangakkara tried work perfectly. He brought back Isuru Udana and the young left-armer produced a classy slower-ball that Clarke could only chip back down the pitch, before Mendis claimed his third by pinning Michael Hussey with one that zipped off the surface.

The next over proved Australia's best of the innings as Muttiah Muralitharan was taken for 21 with Mitchell Johnson launching two huge slow-swept sixes over deep midwicket. The damage, though, had already been done and a team so used to competing in the final stages of global events are packing their bags after the first round.