Kamindu Mendis’ mind-blowing bowling act stuns cricket world

Cricket fans couldn’t believe their eyes when a Sri Lankan star did something rarely seen before during his debut IPL match.

Sri Lankan star Kamindu Mendis has blown minds during his debut game in the IPL on Thursday night.

Mendis lined up for Sunrisers Hyderabad against the Kolkata Knight Riders when he produced a rarely seen talent.

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The 26-year-old was thrown the ball for one over during the Knight Riders’ innings and started the over bowling right arm around the wicket to left-hand batter Venkatesh Iyer.

After a quick single on the first ball, right-handed batsmen Angkrish Raghuvanshi was on strike.

So Mendis quickly changed to bowling left-arm around the wicket.

With the fourth ball of his over Mendis struck as Raghuvanshi attempted to loft him over the fence only for his shot to fly high into the sky before it was caught by Harshal Patel.

Watch Mendis’ mind-blowing act in the video player above

Mendis blows minds with absurd act.

Cricket fans watching on were left in disbelief over what Mendis had just produced with the ball in hand.

One wrote on X: “Kamindu Mendis out here defying cricket logic.”

A second wrote: “As a player I would always ask GOD for the talent like this. Bowling from both the arms is a very usefull skill as a cricketer + he also bats very well. Amazing skill.”

Another wrote on Reddit: “Not allowing him to bowl another over after that is diabolical.”

A second posted: “People don’t realise how incredibly impressive this is.”

A third wrote: “An ambidextrous bowler? That’s so cool.”

Mendis with the bat in hand during his IPL debut. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)

Despite Mendis’ absurd skills, Iyer (60 from 29 balls) led the way for the Knight Riders who recorded an 80-run win.

Iyer’s knock and 91-run stand with fellow left-hander Rinku Singh propelled Kolkata to 6/200 at their home in Eden Gardens after being invited to bat first in a rematch of last year’s final.

Skipper Ajinkya Rahane, who hit 38, and Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who struck 50, lay the foundations of the total in their partnership of 81 after the openers fell early.

Bowlers led by impact substitute Vaibhav Arora bowled Hyderabad out for 120 in 16.4 overs as Kolkata bounced back from a crushing defeat to Mumbai Indian in their previous game early this week.

Travis Head opened for the Sunrisers but made just four from two balls, while skipper Pat Cummins contributed 14 runs with the bat and 1/44 with the ball.

“This game was really important for us,” said Rahane. “Winning by a big margin was crucial for us.

“Last two games were not up to the mark for us. But we learned a lot from our mistakes. This is a great example for us as a batting unit.”

Kolkata moved from the bottom to fifth in the 10-team table and Hyderabad sunk to the last spot with three defeats in four matches.

“Not a great night tonight,” Cummins said. “In the mid-innings break, we thought it was gettable. It was a pretty good wicket. Gave away a few too many in the field and obviously fell short (with the bat).”

– with AFP

Originally published as Kamindu Mendis’ mind-blowing bowling act stuns cricket world