Watch: Shreyas Iyer’s brilliant direct hit finds Kamindu Mendis short of the crease during IND vs SL 2nd ODI

During the second One-Day International (ODI) between India and Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, star cricketer Shreyas Iyer got a remarkable direct hit to run Kamindu Mendis out in the first innings. 

The hosts batted first after winning the toss. Despite a shaky start, they managed to display a recovery, thanks to Kamindu Mendis, who came in as a replacement for Wanindu Hasaranga. Batting at number 8, Mendis played a crucial innings, joint top-scorer in the innings with 40 runs, and formed a vital partnership with Dunith Wellalage to help Sri Lanka cross the 200-run mark.

As the final over of Sri Lanka's innings approached, Mendis was still at the crease, looking to maximize the team's total. On the penultimate delivery of the innings, he attempted to play a pull shot off Arshdeep Singh's bowling but mistimed it, sending the ball towards deep mid-wicket where Iyer was positioned.

Trying for quick runs, Mendis set off for a double. However, he hadn't accounted for Iyer's exceptional fielding skills. Despite not being able to catch the ball on the full, Iyer swiftly collected it and made a powerful throw directly at the stumps. 

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Iyer had only one stump to aim at from a considerable distance, and the ball hit the target with accuracy, catching Mendis well short of his ground. The Sri Lankan batter was not expecting such a brilliant throw from that distance and didn't even attempt to dive or slide his bat.

Earlier in the year, he had executed a similar direct hit to dismiss England's captain Ben Stokes during a Test match in Vizag, further cementing his reputation as a gun fielder.

Though Iyer had a good day with his fielding, his bat couldn't do much talking as he departed after scoring seven runs off nine deliveries. The Men in Blue faced a batting collapse in the middle which eventually cost them the game as they suffered their first defeat of the series by 32 runs.