Kusal Mendis is the future of Sri Lankan batting says Angelo Mathews

It’s been just nine months since Kusal Mendis’ arrival on the international stage and Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews has already tagged him as the “future” of the national outfit.Mendis scored a run a ball 69 to help Sri Lanka post a challenging 288 all out in 48.5 overs in the second ODI at the Premadasa on Wednesday. The Asian islanders then bundled out Australia for a mere 206.

"He's (Mendis) is going to be a big player for us," Mathews was quoted by Espncricinfo. "He's going to be the future of our batting. If he keeps going like how he is going he would do wonders for the Sri Lanka team and I wish him all the very best. It was such a fantastic knock today."Mendis’ fifty was the quickest of the three scored by the hosts and was his fifth half-ton in just nine One-Day Internationals so far.The right-handed youngster was quite brilliant at the end of the Powerplay when he took on Travis Head to collect a 19-run over smacking him for four boundaries.

For Australian captain Steve Smith the attack on Head caused problems and he bowled Aaron Finch for the same. Head gave away 41 runs from his four overs but Mathews said it wasn’t intentional to target the young spinner. He instead praised how Mendis approached his innings.

"He's just very positive," Mathews said. "Especially after losing a couple of wickets in quick succession, the way he went out there and the way he batted was brilliant. Not too many people are able to do that - you take a bit of time and settle in and take a look at the wicket. But he's going out there and playing with freedom. He's just player, who is very different.” Left-arm spinner Amila Aponso also impressed in the game picking up figures of 4/18 after his first ODI on Sunday where he had claimed 1/27.

"Not all the spinners bowled very well out there, apart from Amila Aponso - in the first game as well as this game," Mathews said. "He's bowled in these two matches like he's played internationals for a long time. He's just landing it on the spot and keeping it pretty simple - just bowling it there and letting the ball do the rest. He's been turning a few and sliding a few. It's been extremely difficult for the batters."

The veteran players too contributed to Sri Lanka’s 82-run win with Mathews himself scoring 57 and bagging two scalps. All-rounder Thisara Perera, on the other hand grabbed figures of 3/33. Dinesh Chandimal contributed with a healthy 48.

"Chandimal's been tremendous for us in the Test series and also in England," Mathews said. "He's matured. He's also playing with a lot of responsibility - as a senior. He's anchoring the innings and that's what we want from him. Him batting at No. 4, we want him to bat until the 46th over, so that guys like Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera and Danushka Gunathilaka can go out there and play with a lot of freedom. In our batting line up myself and Chandimal have to take the responsibility to let the youngsters play with freedom."