Sri Lanka’s rising star Kamindu Mendis notched up another Test century as he brought up his fifth Test hundred in the ongoing Sri Lanka vs New Zealand Test at Galle. With this ton, Mendis etched his name in the record book as he went level with one of cricket’s greatest-ever, Don Bradman, and also became the fastest Asian batter to five Test hundreds. Earlier in the same Test, Mendis achieved the rare feat of scoring eight consecutive fifties in Tests since debut, becoming the first batter to do so in the history of Test cricket.
Mendis raced to his fifth century and his second in consecutive Tests against New Zealand, reaching the milestone off 147 balls. With this century, Mendis became the joint-third fastest batter to five Test hundreds since debut by achieving the feat in 13 innings, going level with Australia’s Don Bradman and West Indies’ George Headley.
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Only Everton Weekes (10), Herbert Sutcliffe (12) and Robert Harvey (12) have reached the feat faster than Sri Lanka’s Kamindu Mendis.
Mendis also became the fastest Asian batter to reach five Test centuries. The 25-year-old surpassed the record earlier held by Pakistan's Fawad Alam, who achieved the milestone in 22 innings.
Here’s a list of the fastest batters to reach five Test centuries (by innings):
1. Everton Weekes (WI) – 10 innings
2. Herbert Sutcliffe (ENG) – 12 innings
3. Neil Harvey (AUS) – 12 innings
4. Don Bradman (AUS) – 13 innings
5. George Headley (WI) – 13 innings
6. Kamindu Mendis (SL) – 13* innings
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Mendis brought up his fifth century in 147 balls during Day 2 of the ongoing SL vs NZ 2nd Test. At the time of writing this article, Mendis remains not out batting at 147 runs off 219 balls.