Ajantha Mendis signaled his return to the national side with a bang, leaving Zimbabwe in tatters in their chase of 183.
Mendis was determined to prove a point and what better way to do it than to pick up the best bowling figures in T20 World Cups – 6/8, a record which still stands.
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Despite the opposition, the manner in which Mendis picked up the wickets was most impressive as he bamboozled the Zimbabwean top order to break the back of the chase, leaving them on 59/5 after 10 overs, before returning to finish things off later on in the innings. He put his entire bag of tricks on show in his 4 overs with his googly and carrom ball accounting for a majority of his wickets.
The ‘mystery spinner’ claimed the scalps of Vusi Sibanda, Hamilton Mazakadza, Brendon Taylor, Elton Chigumbura, Prosper Utseya and Kyle Jarvis to eclipse Umar Gul’s 5/6 againt New Zealand in 2009 as the best figures in competition history.
Read: The forgotten warrior Ajantha Mendis
It all turned out to be the perfect start to Sri Lanka’s 2012 campaign at home.
