Kusal Mendis departs for 20 after a bizarre hit-wicket dismissal in GT vs MI IPL 2025 Eliminator match [Watch]

Gujarat Titans (GT) wicket-keeper batter Kusal Mendis' promising and budding knock of 20 runs off 10 balls came to an abrupt end following a rare hit-wicket dismissal in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 Eliminator match against the Mumbai Indians (MI). The Sri Lankan wicket-keeper batter slipped while trying to play a shot off Mitchell Santner's bowling in Mullanpur on Friday, May 30.

Mendis, coming into the IPL 2025 as a temporary replacement for Jos Buttler, had a forgettable outing with the gloves after dropping a couple of crucial chances. The right-handed batter had to come early into the crease in the mammoth 229-run chase after Shubman Gill was dismissed in the very first over of the innings.

He struck three sixes in the third over off Trent Boult to get his innings underway. He had survived a run-out scare to close out the powerplay, but could not make the most of the second life.

In the seventh over, MI brought Mitchell Santner into the attack. Mendis tried to pull him towards midwicket, but over-committed to the shot, stretching his right leg too far back. He slipped just a touch while rocking onto the backfoot, and unluckily managed to hit the stumps with the end of his shoes to dislodge the bails.

Have a look at the dismissal right here:

IPL 2025 has already witnessed two batters being dismissed via hit-wicket. The first instance was Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) Abhinav Manohar, while the most recent addition to the list was Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) Krunal Pandya.

Kusal Mendis has been dismissed five times by Mitchell Santner in T20 cricket

The Sri Lankan batter has not fared well against the New Zealand spinner in the past. Across the home and away series against the Blackcaps in 2024, Mendis was dismissed by Santner four times in the space of five matches. Overall, he has scored only 34 runs off 40 deliveries in T20s against the left-arm bowler at a strike rate of 85.

At the time of writing, GT have kept themselves in the run chase largely due to Sai Sudharsan's heroics. The Shubman Gill-led side at placed at 119-2 after 11 overs of the second innings. MI have brought on Ashwani Kumar as the impact sub as well.