The fitness of seamer Nuwan Pradeep was the main focus point as Sri Lanka had another rain-interrupted training session on Thursday at The Oval in London.
Can Sri Lanka squeeze into the semi-finals?
The rain seems to be following Sri Lanka as both their practice sessions on Wednesday and Thursday were hit by the inclement weather in England. After an indoor session on Wednesday, Sri Lanka managed to squeeze in an outdoor session on Thursday.
Sri Lanka is set to play their fifth match in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 against the defending champions, Australia on the 15th June (Saturday) at The Oval. Both their matches in Bristol against Pakistan and Bangladesh were abandoned due to persistent rain.
Sri Lanka suffer injury blow in Bristol
Injured seamer, Nuwan Pradeep, who was wearing a splint on his little finger on the right hand, held the ball initially and rolled his arm over (without a run-up) to the Physiotherapist Ajantha Wattegama. Minutes after, he joined the rest of the squad in the nets and resumed bowling with a full run-up.
“I have gotten better quickly than expected. I was able to bowl today for the first time. But, I couldn’t do any fielding due to rain. Tomorrow I’ll do some fielding and then taka a call. However, I am determined to play the (Australia) game on Saturday. “ Pradeep told ThePapare.com.
Sri Lanka Team Manager and Chief Selector Asantha De Mel also confirmed to ThePapare.com that they will take a final call on Pradeep’s availability for the match after their final training session tomorrow (Friday).
The 33-year old right-arm fast bowler carried Sri Lanka to their only victory in the tournament, taking 4 for 31 against Afghanistan in Cardiff on the 4th of June.
Sri Lanka is currently in the fifth position in the points table with four points in four games, winning one, losing one and two abandonments.
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