Debasis Sen, Colombo: Sri Lanka batsman Kushal Mendis couldn’t have timed his third test century to perfection in front of former Sri Lanka captain Aravinda de Silva today at the SSC ground today. Mendis not only scored a brilliant 110 runs off 135 balls but also shared a partnership of 191 runs with Dimuth Karunaratne who is not out on 92 runs after the end of Day 3.
Aravinda, who arrived in Colombo yesterday from London, was at the Sinhalese Sports Ground today to witness the test match. The Mad Max was at the Presidents suite at the SSC along with Sri Lankan Board President Thilan Sumathipala. The former Selection Committee chairman arrived at the stroke of lunch to find out a dismal collapse from the home team. But the next few hours he also witnessed the brilliant fight back from Mendis and Karunaratne who just dominated the Indian bowlers much like their predecessor.
Later in the evening the former Sri Lankan captain spoke briefly with xtratime.in over the phone about Kushal’s innings. According to Aravinda, “It was a wonderful knock from both Kushal and Karunaratne. Both of them showed tremendous application in the middle.”
He was spotted in a white shirt and grey trouser along with a black coat, Aravinda was enjoying every bit of their partnership from the President’s box. The sheer presence of Aravinda seemed to have fired up the home team batsmen and that reflected in their improved performance in the second half of the day as for the first time in the series.