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

The baffling, mesmerising spin of Mendis

The spin bowler of the tournament to date has been Sri Lanka's Ajantha Mendis, and especially so against Australia.

Against the West Indies, who were chasing 193 for victory and who were going great guns at 70 for one in the seventh over, Mendis changed the game when, after Muralitheran had removed Lendl Simmons, he left them tottering at 73 for four in the eighth over after taking care of Xavier Marshall and Shivnarine Chanderpaul - one looping a catch into the outfield, one beaten and bowled.

brilliant and deadly

Against Australia, however, Mendis, the mystery man, was brilliant and deadly.

The spin bowler - who spins the ball both ways and sometimes not at all, who disguises the direction of the spin and the amount of spin so well, and who varies his pace so skilfully - confused and bemused the batsmen so much that one could see the embarrassment on their faces, and none more so than on those of his victims - Ricky Ponting, Watson, and Mike Hussey.

Australia were hopping along at 48 for one off 5.5 overs when, in his first over, after beating the batsmen with a few deliveries, Mendis bowled Ponting, who, as he walked away, looked like a man who had just seen a ghost.

Next over, Watson was leg before wicket at 59 for three, and when Hussey also fell leg before wicket in the 13th over, Australia were 94 for six, and one of the pre-tournament favourites were on their way out of the tournament.

One reason for their exit was the power of the big left-hander, Chris Gayle; another was the magical spin of the wily Ajantha Mendis.

Source : The Gleaner

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.