SL batting coach Kandamby: 'Kusal needs to convert starts into hundreds'

Kusal Mendis has begun to find some form. In the second Test against Bangladesh, he hit 84 off 87 balls. In the first ODI, he struck 45 in 43 deliveries, and in the second, produced perhaps the innings of the evening by smoking a fifty off 20 balls - the fastest ever at Khettarama.

Now that it seems obvious that Kusal has got his game humming, Sri Lanka's batting coach Thilina Kandamby wants him to hit the big, match-winning notes. Those good double-figure scores need to become triple-figure ones, Kandamby said on the eve of the third ODI against Bangladesh in Pallekele.

"He gave us a cracking start in the first game and is an experienced player, and he has played lot of cricket," Kandamby said. "He has to understand that now, and he needs to convert those starts into hundreds. If he scores a hundred, we win 90 to 95% of our games. He knows that too.

"When you are in such good form, it's a crime to throw away your wicket. He could have easily gone on to score 150 to 200 runs in the first match. We chatted about how to rotate the strike and other crucial aspects of batting."

Sri Lanka do seem to be expecting a flatter track in Pallekele that may suit Kandamby's ambitions for Kusal for the series decider. Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka had also expected the tracks in Khettarama to be flatter than they ended up being, however.

"Pallekele looks good for batting," Kandamby said. "I think there will be good bounce as well. If you analyse the last few games at Pallekele, we had batting friendly tracks, and there's been a lot of runs scored here in the past year. I hope that continues."