Kamindu Mendis Equals Don Bradman’s World Record: Fastest to 1000 Test Runs in 75 Years
In 75 years, Kamindu Mendis became the fastest batter to score 1000 Test runs, leaving his mark on cricket history. In just 13 innings, he equaled the legendary Don Bradman with his incredible undefeated 182 against New Zealand in Galle.
With only Herbert Sutcliffe and Everton Weekes holding the record for the fastest 1000-run Test record in 12 innings, Mendis and Bradman currently have the third-fastest record.
Kamindu reached the milestone at the same pace as Don Bradman, needing 13 innings to do it. Only two Test players in history have ever run faster than them: Herbert Sutcliffe and Everton Weekes (both 12). These two are currently third quickest ever.
He arrived in style as well, hitting Rachin Ravindra’s left-arm fingerspin for six down the ground to surpass the score of 178 and come closer to a lifetime total in the quadruple figures. His accomplishment is remarkable because 634 of his 1004 runs to far have come from batting positions seven or lower. But starting with this series, Kamindu went up the lineup, and this particular innings came from No. 5.
In addition to his 91.27 average, Kamindu maintains a strike rate of 65.02 and scores rather swiftly. In his 13 innings, he has scored more over 50 nine times, 100 five times, and 150 twice; his highest score to far is 182 not out. Although he has hit hundreds in three different series this year—in Bangladesh, England, and Sri Lanka—his best average is still at home.
Kamindu has easily surpassed the Sri Lanka record, which was previously held by Roy Dias, who had reached there in 23 knocks, by reaching there in 13 innings. Yashasvi Jaiswal became the fastest batsman of the twenty-first century to reach 1000 runs in just 16 innings last year.
In the Galle Test, Sri Lanka took a commanding lead in part because of Kamindu‘s innings. Even though he was the highest scorer, Kusal Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal both had centuries.
