Nathan Lyon hailed the composure shown by Kusal Mendis after the 21-year-old batsman turned the >first Test between Sri Lanka and Australia on its head with a sensational innings.
>Report: Mendis' century pulls Sri Lanka out of rut
In only his seventh Test, Mendis almost single-handedly lifted Sri Lanka out of trouble on day three in Pallekele, striking 169 not out from 243 deliveries to move the host to 282 for 6 and a lead of 196.
Congrats >@NathLyon421 on 200 Test wickets, magnificent achievement. Big day for us today, 4 wickets then bat our backsides off. >#fight
— Steve Smith (@stevesmith49) >July 29, 2016
Mendis' epic knock was all the more remarkable for the fact that he had only made one first-class century prior to Thursday and arrived at the crease with his side at 6 for 2 and with 22 wickets having gone down for 326 runs in the match.
'Credit where credit's due'
Australia off-spinner Lyon, who was able to celebrate his 200th Test wicket after dismissing Dhananjaya de Silva late in the day, said: "It's probably got a tad easier to bat, but you've got to give credit where credit's due. For the young fella [Mendis] to get 170, he's batted out of his skin, he's played extremely well.
"It's been a tough day for the bowlers, but the good thing about Test cricket [is] we'll bounce back tomorrow and look forward to taking the new ball and hopefully some early wickets."
Terrific maiden Test hundred from Kusal Mendis >#SLvAUS>pic.twitter.com/deZf3c6xMU
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) >July 28, 2016
Asked to define the most impressive aspect of Mendis' breakthrough innings, Lyon added: "I think just the composure. He's only 21 and the way he went about it [was impressive]. He had a simple gameplan and he stuck to it the whole day. Hats off to him - he batted extremely well."
Speaking through an interpreter, a smiling Mendis prompted laughter among the media when suggesting Sri Lanka would look to set Australia "the maximum possible, perhaps 400."
The youngster added: "When I walked into bat, it was very clear what my role was going to be, so I tried my level best and stuck to the plans. I wasn't thinking about the lead [of 86 Australia had after the first innings]. I went out and batted the way I would have batted in the first innings."
Australia's cause was hampered by an >injury to left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe, who limped off with a hamstring problem. "I feel he [O'Keefe] was the biggest threat to the right-handers. It was a setback for Australia, for sure," said Mendis, who expects the wicket to provide increasing assistance to the slow bowlers on days four and five.
Lyon added: "I feel sorry for Steve. he's one of my good mates and to see him injure himself and for Australia to lose a vital member of our bowling attack, it's a pretty big loss for us."
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