Sri Lankan opening batter Kusal Mendis continued his Midas touch in ODI cricket as he smoked his 9th ton in the format on Tuesday. The wicket-keeper batter Mendis went berserk in Sri Lanka's clash against Pakistan in the ODI World Cup 2023 as he smashed the fastest hundred by a Sri Lankan batter in ODI World Cup history. Mendis shattered Kumar Sangakkara's record en route to a magical 65-ball ton.
After choosing to bat first at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in their second World Cup clash, Mendis and Pathum Nissanka powered the Lankan Lions to a blistering start despite losing Kusal Perera early. The duo put Sri Lanka at 58/1 after the first 10 overs.
Mendis took down Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Nawaz in the powerplay and then scored his fifty in 40 balls. He unleashed his beast after crossing half-ton and scored the next 50 runs in just 25 balls. Mendis got out on 122 when Imam-ul-Haq took a brilliant catch at the mid-wicket fence.
The right-handed batter has become the fastest centurion for Sri Lanka in ODI World Cup history as he shattered Kumar Sangakkara's 70-ball hundred record which the former skipper scored in 2015 against England.
Sri Lankan players to score fastest ODI hundred in World Cup
1 - Kusal Mendis: 65 balls vs Pakistan in 2023
2 - Kumar Sangakkara: 70 balls vs England in 2015
3 - Kumar Sangakkara: 73 balls vs Bangladesh in 2015
4 - Mahela Jayawardene: 80 balls vs Canada in 2011
5 - Mahela Jayawardene: 84 balls vs India in 201
Mendis scored his 100th run with a six off Hasan Ali on his 65th ball. This is also the sixth-fastest ODI World Cup hundred ever scored. Aiden Markram's 49-ball ton which he hit in the game against Sri Lanka last week remains on top of the list. Mendis' 122-run knock included 6 fours and 14 sixes.
