Prolific Kamindu Mendis gives Sri Lanka the edge in 1st test against New Zealand

GALLE, Sri Lanka (AP) — Raised up the order to score even more runs, prolific middle-order batter Kamindu Mendis struck a fine hundred on Wednesday to rescue Sri Lanka from a precarious position as the hosts reached 302-7 at stumps on Day 1 of the first test against New Zealand.

Kiwi quick William O’Rourke claimed three wickets in Galle but Mendis (114) was untroubled, posting his fourth century in test match cricket in only his seventh test.

The left-handed batsman has scored more than 800 runs in just 11 innings and he is on course to become the fastest Sri Lankan to 1,000 test runs, with Roy Dias (23 innings) currently holding that record. Apart from four hundreds, Mendis also has scored four half-centuries.

Mendis had been batting at No. 7 until this test match, when he was promoted to No. 5. Often he had batted with the tail while occupying the lower position and had run out of partners.

New Zealand had the advantage after reducing Sri Lanka to 178-5 and with the last recognized pair out in the middle. Mendis, with Kusal Mendis (50), was involved in a 103-run partnership for the sixth wicket to help Sri Lanka fight back.

Kamindu Mendis reached his century by putting away a full toss from part-time spinner Rachin Ravindra to the boundary.

Kusal Mendis, made to keep wicket and pushed to No. 7 in this game, was fighting for his place but should be fine for the rest of the series.

The partnership was broken when Kusal Mendis was dismissed in unusual fashion. The batter pulled Glenn Phillips' delivery and the ball stuck short leg fielder Tom Latham and popped up to Tim Southee at short mid-wicket for an easy catch.

New Zealand took the second new ball soon after it was available and it was spinner Ajaz Patel who made the breakthrough by dismissing Kamindu Mendis with just five minutes to go for stumps.

Sri Lanka lost both its openers Pathum Nissanka (27) and Dimuth Karunaratne (2) early in the day after electing to bat first as O’Rourke removed both batters.

O’Rourke also struck Angelo Mathews on his right index finger forcing the batter to retire. He did come out to bat after lunch and made 36.

Phillips was the pick of the spinners, bowling captain Dhananjaya de Silva through the gate.

New Zealand had a warm-up test match last week against Afghanistan in India washed out after five days without a ball being bowled. Sri Lanka is coming off a three-match test series in England which the hosts won 2-1.

The teams will play a second test beginning Sept. 26, also at Galle.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis celebrates his century on the first day of the first cricket test match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Viraj Kothalawala)

Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis leaves the field after losing his wicket to New Zealand's Ajaz Patel on the first day of the first cricket test match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Viraj Kothalawala)

New Zealand's Ajaz Patel, left, celebrates with teammates the wicket of Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis on the first day of the first cricket test match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Viraj Kothalawala)

New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra, left, runs up to Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis to shake his hand as the latter leaves the field after losing his wicket on the first day of the first cricket test match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Viraj Kothalawala)

Sri Lanka's Dinesh Chandimal plays a shot on the first day of the first cricket test match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Viraj Kothalawala)

Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews plays a shot on the first day of the first cricket test match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Viraj Kothalawala)

Sri Lanka's Dinesh Chandimal plays a shot on the first day of the first cricket test match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Viraj Kothalawala)

New Zealand's players stand for the national anthems before the start of the first day of the first cricket test match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Viraj Kothalawala)

Sri Lanka's captain Dhananjaya de Silva, left, and New Zealand's captain Tim Southee pose for a photograph with the trophy before the start of the first day of the cricket test match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Viraj Kothalawala)

New Zealand's players congratulate New Zealand's William O'Rourke, second right, for taking the wicket of Sri Lanka's Dimuth Karunaratne on the first day of the first cricket test match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Viraj Kothalawala)

Sri Lanka's Pathum Nissanka is bowled out by New Zealand's William O'Rourke on the first day of the first cricket test match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Viraj Kothalawala)

New Zealand's William O'Rourke, right, celebrates the wicket of Sri Lanka's Pathum Nissanka on the first day of the first cricket test match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Viraj Kothalawala)

New Zealand's William O'Rourke bowls a delivery on the first day of the first cricket test match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Viraj Kothalawala)

New Zealand's William O'Rourke, second right, celebrates the wicket of Sri Lanka's Pathum Nissanka on the first day of the first cricket test match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Viraj Kothalawala)

New Zealand's Ajaz Patel reacts after bowling a delivery on the first day of the first cricket test match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Viraj Kothalawala)

New Zealand's captain Tim Southee reacts after bowling a delivery on the first day of the first cricket test match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Viraj Kothalawala)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting Thursday following a jumble of mixedreports that shed little clarity on how the U.S. economy is managing through President Donald Trump’s trade war.

The S&P 500 was 0.2% lower in early trading and potentially on track for its first drop of the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 179 points, or 0.4%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.4% lower.

Treasury yields also sank in the bond market following the reports, with the headliners saying shoppers spent less at U.S. retailers last month than expected, while inflation was better at the wholesale level than economists expected. Other updates said U.S. manufacturing looks like it’s still contracting but fewer U.S. workers are applying for unemployment benefits than expected.

Altogether, the reports suggested the Federal Reserve may have more room to cut interest rates later this year to bolster the U.S. economy if it weakens under the weight of high tariffs. But they did little to spell out whether the economy is falling toward a recession, as many investors had been fearing, or shaking off the uncertainty after Trump called off many of his tariffs temporarily.

Such uncertainty showed itself in Walmart’s stock, which fell 3.8% even though it reported a bigger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Like other U.S. companies struggling with the uncertainty caused by Trump’s on-again-off-again rollout of tariffs, Walmart did not offer a forecast for how much profit it will make in the current quarter, though it did say it expects sales to grow between 3.5% and 4.5%, not including the swings that shifting values of foreign currencies can bring.

The nation’s largest retailer also said that it must raise prices due to higher costs caused by Trump’s tariffs.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Dick’s Sporting Goods tumbled 12.2% after it said it would buy the struggling Foot Locker chain for $2.4 billion. Dick’s also said that it made a better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Foot Locker soared 83% after coming into the day with a loss of nearly 41% for the year so far.

It’s the second buyout of a major footwear company in as many weeks as business leaders struggle with uncertainty over how Trump’s tariffs will impact companies that make many of their products overseas. Last week Skechers announced that it was being taken private by 3G Capital for $9 billion.

In the oil market, crude prices sank more than 2% on expectations that more petroleum could be set to flow into global markets because of a possible deal between the United States and Iran on the Middle Eastern country’s nuclear program. Such a deal would help pave the way to ease sanctions against Tehran.

Elsewhere, China moved to reverse some of its “non-tariff” measures against the U.S. as agreed with Washington in their temporary trade war cease-fire, while demanding that the U.S. side “immediately correct its wrong practices.”

A Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson accused the Trump administration of violating world trade rules by announcing that use of Ascend computer chips made by China’s Huawei Technologies violates U.S. export controls.

Stock indexes fell 0.8% in Hong Kong and 0.7% in Shanghai, while indexes were mixed elsewhere in Asia and in Europe.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.48% from 4.53% late Wednesday.

The two-year Treasury yield dropped to 3.98% from 4.05% as expectations built among traders that the Fed will resume cutting its main interest rate as soon as September.

The Fed has been keeping interest rates on hold this year as it waits to see the effects of Trump’s trade policies. Cutting interest rates would help juice the economy by making it easier for U.S. households and companies to borrow and spend. But it would also push upward on inflation when worries are high that Trump’s tariffs will do the same thing.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Traders Jonathan Mueller, right, and Michael Capolino work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Jonathan Corpina works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Edward Curran works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top right, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Trader William Lawrence works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)