Opener Dimuth Karunaratne has been in superb form this year, having already notched up over 800 runs. Only Dean Elgar and Hashim Amla of South Africa have scored more runs than him in 2017.
On Friday, he completed his third Test century of the year and was unbeaten on 133 after a six hour vigil at the crease. Many expected him to be retained for the ODI leg of the tour, given that Sri Lanka failed to bat the full 50 overs against India in the recent bilateral series, but the selectors have opted to pick Chamara Kapugedera ahead of Dimuth.
Karunaratne ton puts Sri Lanka on top
Dimuth Karunaratne made an unbeaten 133* while Dinesh Chandimal finished on 49* as Sri Lanka posted 254/3 on day…
Speaking to journalists after his marathon knock, Dimuth said that he wasn’t bothered about being overlooked for the shorter format of the game.
“I played quite well in the domestic one-day tournament as well. I am enjoying my Test cricket more than my one-day game at the moment. I am now fully focused on doing well in Test cricket. Was trying to get better and better. I want to be a complete Test player and I am getting there,” the 29-year-old said to the media.
“I am taking it one game at a time. If the selectors want me to play ODI cricket, I will do that. But right now I want to focus on my Test career.”
This is Sri Lanka’s first ever day-night Test match and Dimuth’s knock was useful as Sri Lanka took control of the game. He added an unfinished 118 runs for the fourth wicket with captain Dinesh Chandimal.
Dimuth said playing a season of domestic cricket using the pink ball helped him. “I played a First Class game in Sri Lanka with the pink ball and scored a hundred. So I had some confidence going into this game although what I played in Colombo was a day game. Mostly we played in the day time and today the last session under lights really tested us. The first four hours it was nice and smooth but the last two hours were tough. When the new ball gets softer it gets a lot easier.”
“Mohammad Amir bowled really well today. Mohammad Abbas didn’t get much side movement earlier on. But he was tough to face with the second new ball under lights. It wasn’t easy. We have done the hard work and now we need to cash in in the morning. We were not looking for runs after they took the second new ball. We were just trying to see off the day,” Dimuth noted.
Sri Lanka handed two Test caps ahead of the second Test with top order batsman Sadeera Samarawickrama and fast bowler Lahiru Gamage making their debuts. Vice-captain Lahiru Thirimanne and chinaman bowler Lakshan Sandakan were left out.
Sadeera looked solid during his 53 minute stay at the wicket. His first stroke in Test cricket was an exquisite cover drive off Yasir Shah, against whom many Sri Lankan batsmen have struggled. Sadeera has been labeled as a carbon copy of former captain Mahela Jayawardene and he showed why with some spectacular inside-out shots. He was electric in running between the wickets and finished on 38 runs off 35 balls with five fours and a six. He shared 68 runs with Dimuth for the second wicket before a lapse of concentration brought about his downfall.
“He was the highest run getter in First Class cricket last season. He played well today. I tried to give him confidence and he was very positive. I told him just to play his game. He had no fear and was very comfortable. Once he gets more experienced in this level he will convert them into big ones, I am pretty sure.”
Pakistan have not lost a Test series in UAE and in fact in the last ten years have been unbeaten at home. That record is now at stake with Sri Lanka 1-0 up in the series.
“We had a bad series against India. We desperately want to win this series. We are hungry. We just want to play our best and give our best and win the series. We are taking it one day at a time. On day one we have done well and hopefully we will do well on day two as well.”
