Stats - Kamindu's dream start in Test cricket puts him alongside Bradman

Stats – Kamindu’s dream start in Test cricket puts him alongside Bradman

Posted by Admin September 27, 2024 Cricket

2 – Players to complete 1000 Test runs quicker than Kamindu Mendis, who got there in 13 innings. Both Everton Weekes and Herbert Sutcliffe needed 12 Test innings to reach 1000 runs, while Don Bradman got there in 13 innings.

The Sri Lankan record was previously held by Roy Dias, Michael Vandort and Dhananjaya de Silva, all in 23 innings.

1 – Kamindu became the first player with a fifty-plus score in each of his first eight Test matches. The previous longest streak of fifty-plus scores in consecutive Tests from debut was seven by Saud Shakeel.

2 – Sri Lankans with fifty-plus scores in eight or more consecutive Test matches. Kumar Sangakkara is the other, with fifty-plus scores in nine successive Tests in 2014.

13 – Innings needed for Kamindu to score his fifth hundred in Test cricket. Only three batters needed fewer innings – Weekes (ten), Sutcliffe (12) and Neil Harvey (12). Bradman and George Headley also scored their fifth in 13 innings.

The Sri Lanka record – in 38 innings – was previously held by Aravinda de Silva and Dinesh Chandimal. The most number of hundreds any Sri Lankan had in their first 13 Test innings before Kamindu was three by Vandort.

5 – Test hundreds for Kamindu, all while batting at No. 5 or lower, and all in 2024. Only two other batters have scored five or more centuries while batting at No. 5 or lower in a calendar year in Tests – six by Jonny Bairstow in 2022 and five by Michael Clarke in 2012.

3 – Number of Sri Lanka batters with five or more Test hundreds in a calendar year before Kamindu. Tillakaratne Dilshan was the last one, with six in 2009. Aravinda had seven centuries in 1997, while Mahela Jayawardene also had five in 2009.

91.27 – Kamindu’s batting average in Test cricket is the second-highest among players with 1000-plus runs, behind only Bradman’s 99.94.

His average is also fourth-highest after 13 Test innings, behind Harvey (106.56), Bradman (99.67) and Sunil Gavaskar (91.80).

6 – Number of century partnerships involving Kamindu in 2024 for the sixth (or lower) wicket. Only one batter was part of more century stands for the sixth (or lower) wicket in a calendar year in Tests – seven by Bairstow in 2016.