Ajantha Mendis produced extraordinary bowling figures of six for eight to lead Sri Lanka to a crushing 82-run win over Zimbabwe in the opening Twenty20 World Cup match on Tuesday.
Mendis, returning to the side following nine months out due to a back injury, bowled with his usual control and tantalising length to surpass his own Twenty20 record figures of six for 16 against Australia last year.
Mendis’s namesake Jeevan took three for 24 as the Zimbabweans were skittled out for just 100 in the Group C match.
“Ajantha Mendis has always been a knife in our side and he’s a world class performer and he showed that tonight,” Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor told reporters.
“He gives you very little to score and when you are chasing nine an over it’s always going to be difficult and you gotta go after some bowler and he was on top of his game tonight and caught us off guard a bit,” he said.
“Sri Lanka are just a lot better after tonight and they showed why they are one of the favourites to win.”