Mendis, Jayawardena create records in Zim encounter

Ajantha Mendis became the fastest bowler in the history of one day international cricket to scalp 50 victims, while his captain Mahela Jayawardena equaled Mohammad Azharuddin’s record of taking the most ODI catches.

With his spell of 3/15 in 5.2 overs against Zimbabwe, Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis became the fastest bowler in the history of the game to capture 50 wickets in the limited overs’ format of the game.

His current tally of 51 ODI scalps came in just 19 games, beating the former record-holder, India’s Ajit Agarkar, who took 23 ODIs to reach the fastest-50 milestone.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardena pocketed two catches in the match against Zimbabwe, which was won by Sri Lanka by 130 runs. Jayawardena is now only one catch away from becoming the fielder to take the most number of catches in ODIs.

The Lankan skipper is currently tied with former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin who pocketed the same number of catches in the limited overs format of the game.

Both currently have 156 catches to their name, though Jayawardena’s feat comes in 289 games. Azharuddin, on the other hand, took 334 games to enter record books.

Mendis left a host of other cricketing legends behind him on his way to the record. His best ODI bowling figures of 6/13 was a match-wining effort that came in the Asia Cup final against India. He has picked up 3 five-fors and 3 four-fors in his brief ODI career that began less than a year ago, in April 2008.

The only other cricketers that can pose a threat to Jayawardena’s record of 156 ODI catches are Ricky Ponting (135) and Sachin Tendulkar (126).

However, with a lot of cricket still left in him and being the youngest of the three, it is highly unlikely that either Ponting or Tendulkar will go past Jayawardena as the player to bag the most number of catches in ODIs.