Kusal Mendis hopes for improved show at Newlands

Kusal Mendis hopes for improved show at Newlands

Kusal Mendis, Sri Lanka's promising batsman, blended dollops of skill and temperament to notch up an impressive half-century in the first Test of the three-match series against South Africa in Port Elizabeth on Thursday (December 29). However, the visitors couldn't cope up with the home side's incisive pace attack and hurtled to a 206-run loss.

Mendis admitted that Kagiso Rabada, Vernon Philander and Kyle Abbott form a potent pace attack and the visitors need to put up a better show in the second Test at Newlands to navigate their threat.

"All three of their quicks are very good. We knew they'd played very well against Australia, which we had as well," Mendis observed. "They are in form. It's not that they are too tough for us or anything - they just did their jobs better than us in the last Test. They did that really well. We've faced them now. All we've got to do is practice and play better in the next match."

The promising batsman got an outside edge off Abbott and was caught behind in the first innings. Incidentally, Mendis has already been dismissed caught 19 times in his fledgling Test career. The 21-year-old, who made his Test debut after playing just 10 first-class games, said that he has worked on his flaw of poking at deliveries in the channel outside the off-stump.

"Well, as soon as we come to cricket bowlers don't know your weak points," he said. "They'll watch videos of us, like we do of them. They'll work out a batsman's weaknesses - so they would have of mine as well. So we need to evolve and fix our mistakes. Otherwise it's difficult. If we do the same thing you get out.

"I've definitely worked on the problem of being caught behind a lot with the coach at training. The main thing is to stop playing that shot in certain situations. Not to do away with it completely, but maybe in the first few overs I'll refrain from playing it. After I get a few runs and feel comfortable, maybe I can use it. There's no major technical adjustment or anything. It's just a shot selection thing. It's important also not to impose a rule on yourself that you absolutely can't play a shot. It depends on the situation," he said.

He also praised the senior players in the Sri Lankan camp for their words of encouragement after he failed in the first innings of the first Test. "After I got out in the first innings the seniors spoke to me a lot. They came and told me not to be too disappointed, and that I have another innings, and to hit a big one there.

"I tried to avoid being caught behind and scored runs off shots I felt were safe. I was desperate to make runs in the second innings. I hadn't planned on scoring quickly, actually. It just happened that way. But I wasn't able to hit a big innings in the end. I had the opportunity to hit a 100 or 150, but I didn't take it. I think my getting out was terrible for the team, in that situation," Mendis added.