Sri Lanka’s Kamindu Mendis made headlines at Eden Gardens on April 3 with his Kamindu Mendis Ambidextrous Bowling, achieving a rare feat in IPL history but it wasn’t enough to stop Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) from handing Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) a crushing 80-run defeat.
Kamindu Mendis Ambidextrous Bowling Stuns Eden Crowd
In a moment never seen before in the IPL, Kamindu Mendis Ambidextrous Bowling display stunned everyone as he became the first player to bowl with both arms in a single over. Introduced in the 13th over, he bowled three deliveries with his left-arm orthodox spin before switching to right-arm off-spin for the next three. The switch paid off immediately as he dismissed Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who had scored a fluent 50 off 32 balls.
Mendis also made a handy contribution with the bat, scoring 27 runs, but SRH’s batting unit collapsed under pressure during their chase of 201. The team was bowled out for just 120 in 16.4 overs, marking their third straight defeat in IPL 2025.
KKR’s dominance began with the bat. After early setbacks, a solid 81-run partnership between Raghuvanshi and skipper Ajinkya Rahane (38 off 27) set the tone. Then came the fireworks Venkatesh Iyer smashed 60 off 29 balls, combining with Rinku Singh (32 off 17) for a rapid 91-run stand in just 41 balls, pushing KKR to 200/6 their highest total of the season, despite the intriguing challenge posed by Kamindu Mendis Ambidextrous Bowling.
With the ball, Vaibhav Arora struck early, removing Travis Head and Ishan Kishan cheaply. He ended with brilliant figures of 3/29, ensuring SRH never got into the game.
In addition to his IPL feat, Mendis recently achieved a remarkable Test milestone, becoming the fastest Asian and joint-second fastest overall to reach 1000 Test runs doing so in just 13 innings, matching the legendary Don Bradman.
Despite Mendis’s ambidextrous brilliance and batting cameo, the night belonged to KKR, who bounced back in style after a previous loss. SRH will now need to regroup and rethink their strategy as their campaign faces early trouble.
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