File image of Kamindu Mendis© AFP
Sri Lanka's rising batting sensation Kamindu Mendis was crowned as the ICC Men's Player of the Month for September, announced the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday. Mendis played in four Tests during the month, scoring 451 runs at an average of 90.20, helping his side to a consolation win at The Oval in England before playing his part in a superb series triumph against New Zealand back in Sri Lanka. He has also scored two centuries in this run.
"A rising Sri Lanka Test star has become the first player to win the ICC Men's Player of the Month award twice in 2024. Kamindu Mendis beat out tough competition from Sri Lanka teammate Prabath Jayasuriya and Australia's Travis Head to claim the monthly award, with the stylish left-hander adding to the honour he claimed in March earlier this year," said a statement from ICC.
Mendis was thrilled to win the award for the second time this year and is already working hard on achieving even greater things within his cricketing career.
"I am honoured to be once again chosen as the ICC Men's Player of the Month, and this accolade brings me immense happiness and pride, as I believe all the hard work that was put into becoming the player that I am today is starting to pay off and being recognised consistently in the global stage," he said as quoted by ICC.
"This recognition gives me further strength to continue my good work on the cricketing field and aspire for bigger achievements, thus helping my team win games and bring glory to our country and happiness to our fans," he added.
During September, Mendis became the first men's player in history to pass fifty in each of the first eight matches of his Test career.
And during the month he became the fastest batter in 75 years to bring up 1,000 Test runs - doing so in just eight Tests and matching Don Bradman's effort of reaching the landmark in 13 innings. His biggest score of the month was a dominant 182* in Sri Lanka's mammoth first-innings total of 602/5 declared in the second Test against New Zealand, a knock that helped set up a convincing win. But arguably more impressive was his 114 in the first innings of the first Test of that series.
His side had been in trouble at 88/3 when Mendis came in to bat, with Angelo Mathews also having retired hurt. No other batter on either side reached triple figures in the match, which Sri Lankan went on to win by just 63 runs.
In eight Tests so far, Kamindu has scored 1,004 runs at an average of 91.27, with five centuries and four fifties in 13 innings. His best score is 182*.
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