Sri Lanka batsman Kusal Mendis became only the second batsman after India captain Virat Kohli to cross 1,000 runs in the calendar year en route to scoring 67 in the second innings against New Zealand on Saturday.
Despite Sri Lanka’s patchy form, Mendis has come into his own, bolstering their middle-order. England’s Joe Root lies third while India’s Cheteshwar Pujara ended at fourth spot in the table with 837 runs. Kohli is comfortably at the top with an aggregate of 1332 runs. Another Englishman, Jos Buttler, clinched the fifth spot despite starting the year unsure of a spot in the Test side.
Here’s the top-10 list for 2018:
| Player | Matches (innings) | Runs (100s / 50s) | Ave |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virat Kohli | 13 (24) | 1322 (5 / 5) | 55.08 |
| Kusal Mendis | 12 (23) | 1023 (3 /4) | 46.5 |
| Joe Root | 13 (24) | 948 (2 / 6) | 41.21 |
| Cheteshwar Pujara | 13 (23) | 837 (3 /4) | 38.04 |
| Jos Buttler | 10 (18) | 760 (1 / 6) | 44.7 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | 9 (17) | 743 (1 / 7) | 46.43 |
| Usman Khawaja | 10 (18) | 732 (2 / 4) | 40.66 |
| Mominul Haque | 8 (15) | 673 (4 / 0) | 44.86 |
| Aiden Markram | 10 (20) | 672 (2 / 2) | 33.6 |
| Dean Elgar | 10 (20) | 661 (1 / 5) | 36.72 |
Neil Wagner captured the wicket of Mendis to revive New Zealand’s spirits as they fought to wrap up the series-deciding second Test in Christchurch.
Sri Lanka were also hampered by an injury to Angelo Mathews who appeared to tweak a hamstring and could only hobble for the last 10 minutes before tea. Wagner’s vital strike ended a significant 117-run stand by Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal who had defied the New Zealand attack for 53 overs. Mendis’s highest score during the year was 196 against Bangladesh at Chittagong.
(With inputs from AFP)