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***Official*** South Africa in Sri Lanka 2014
- Thread starter Maximas
- Start date
YorksLanka
International Debutant
didnt see the match so can only go on the match reports..well done to SA on a big win. it sounds like Mathews made a few mistakes in not bowling out our quicks and getting suckered into using part time spinners becuase the actual spinners bowled well? still two matches to go and hopefully we can bring it back next game, again well done to SA...
Maximas
Cricketer Of The Year
Yeah, it was a good idea but he left them on for 2 overs too long and it really cost us, he'll learn from that though, he's been improving as a captain lately.
karan316
State Vice-Captain
But isn't his wicket taking abilities on flat wickets a sign that he can do well in all conditions. His economy rate has never been in control recently, but he's always got wickets out of nowhere, even on some very unhelpful pitches.
Maximas
Cricketer Of The Year
His previous experiences in all conditions is probably a better indicator, and that tends to show that he's an excellent bowler in LO cricket at home, and he's ok away from home. With the WC in mind, yeah Mendis is gonna give you a few wickets in those kinds of conditions, often at opportune moments (4th ODI in England comes to mind) the trade off that he'll generally be expensive is one I'm not sure pays off properly especially when we have two very consistent performers in Herath/Sachi also available.
karan316
State Vice-Captain
He has a pretty decent record in ODIs overall. Sure it can still be improved, but its good if you look at his past record outside SL.
Maximas
Cricketer Of The Year
It just depends on whether you'd rather have 1/45 off your spinner or 2/60, reliability or x-factor, I suppose wouldn't be the worst thing to have him in the team away from home given the rest of the attack tends to be very disciplined and predictable. Also, when you evaluate Mendis' overall record and try to use it as a predictive tool I find it's best to discount the first year or so of his career when people couldn't read him, it's unfortunately never gonna be like that again.
karan316
State Vice-Captain
Even if you consider his recent record(past 20-25 matches only), he has been good in the ODIs. And he has always slowed down the opposition batsmen by picking wickets at important times, even when the batsmen are just looking to nudge a few singles here and there, he has beaten their defence. So overall, he has had a better impact than the numbers suggest.
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viriya
International Captain
Definitely worth keeping him in the ODI side.. last time he didn't get a wicket when he bowled in an ODI was August 2011. He can be expensive yes but he is worth the risk.
Maximas
Cricketer Of The Year
Not my impression of watching him, never looks to have the tools to either dislodge or contain decent batsmen, good at profiting from their mistakes though
viriya
International Captain
Like SL did for the WC final? that worked out well...
karan316
State Vice-Captain
Recently he hasn't been good at containing decent batsmen, thats true. But if you look at the way he has taken wickets, on a lot of occasions he has beaten the defense of the batsmen, it's not like he gets the wickets only when the batsmen are attacking him. More than 50 percent of his dismissals have been either bowled, LBW or stumped.
I think even without the mystery factor, accurate bowling by Mendis can hurt any opposition. If you look at his record, his run rate would have gone a bit up, but the amount of wickets he is taking has been high throughout.
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karan316
State Vice-Captain
Its not the temperament, maybe its because he still lacks a potent stock ball. He bowls a lot of variations and the carrom ball is difficult to bowl as well, so maintaining accuracy becomes a bit difficult, which is why he can be a bit expensive at times.
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karan316
State Vice-Captain
Why do you hate Mendis so much?