Mendis century hints at life after legends

Sri Lanka look to have gone some way to filling the gaping holes in their top-order left by the retirements of legends Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena after Kusal Mendis' record-breaking maiden Test century against the world No.1 ranked Australians.

Playing in just his seventh Test, the 21-year-old almost single-handedly rescued Sri Lanka's second-innings with a majestic 176 on a Pallekele pitch the next best Sri Lankan score is 42.

Mendis came to the middle with his side 2-6, still 80 runs behind making Australia bat again.

When his captain Angelo Mathews, the lynchpin of this weakened Sri Lanka side, was dismissed with the scores level, the pattern of the low-scoring match suggested Mendis and the rest of his teammates would follow, leaving Australia a modest total to chase in the fourth-innings.

But the young right-hander dismantled the tourists' bowling-attack piece-by-piece, at first keeping Sri Lanka in contention, and then seemingly putting the hosts in the box seat.

Mendis became the youngest player to register a score of more than 150 against Australia since Graham Pollock's 175 in 1964 and it's the third highest individual score on debut against Australia.

"Angelo told us that they come at you very hard in the first few spells and the main thing is to get them bowling into their third and fourth spells," he told reporters after play on day three.

"So we stuck at the wicket in the best way we could.

"During the last couple of hours, they came with a plan to have more fielders on the leg side. We also knew that, and played the situation well."

Mendis was a small bright spot on Sri Lanka's otherwise miserable tour of England, where the absence of Sangakkara and Jayawardena's nearly 25,000 Test runs was laid bare.

His 156 runs at 31.20 may not have represented an international campaign many Sri Lankans have been expecting since he followed in the footsteps of Thilan Samaraweera and Arjuna Ranatunga by being named Sri Lanka's Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year in 2014.

But Mendis showed glimpses of his talent on the Test tour Sri Lanka lost 2-0 to England, his 53 in the first Test at Headingley an example, and had been earmarked by Sri Lanka coach Graham Ford as a potential backbone of the top-order.

"He's one of our guys who's really got a technique that can survive wherever he goes in world cricket," Ford, now six months into his second stint as coach of the island nation, told ESPN in June.

"Whoever has coached him as a young lad has done a magnificent job. He is still learning and needs to get to a stage where he turns his exciting starts into bigger contributions.

"For such a young guy to be batting at No. 3 in Test cricket is very exciting. Ideally you'd break a young guy like that in at No. 6 and let him bat for a while in a position where the tone is set by the specialists, and the ball is older.

"But he's having to be the tone-setter, and he's shown that he can do it."

Ford would no doubt have been delighted Mendis was able to turn a start into a big hundred.

While his half-century against England at Headingley was his only score above 50 before his 176 in Kandy, the former Sri Lanka Under-19 captain had demonstrated an aptitude for international cricket.

In his first 14 Test innings, Mendis has been dismissed for under 25 just four times, a significant achievement considering he's been up against the likes of New Zealand's Trent Boult and Tim Southee, and England's Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad on their respective home turf.

Barring two Tests where he opened against the Kiwis, Mendis had predominantly been employed at No.3 in Sri Lanka's brittle top-order since making his Test debut against the West Indies.

It was at first-drop where Mendis batted in the first-innings against Australia at Pallekele, where he was trapped lbw for eight to Josh Hazlewood in the hosts' first-innings as they were bundled out for 117.

But after squandering an 86-run lead to Australia, Mendis slotted into No.4 for the first time in his burgeoning Test career and went on to produce a vital knock that could provide the inspiration for a Sri Lanka upset.

"Just the composure … he's only 21," Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon said after play on day three of the promising youngster.

"He had a simple game plan and he stuck to it the whole day. Hats off to him, he batted extremely well."