SA vs SL | Dhananjaya de Silva ruled out of Test series with a thigh injury
Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva’s partnership seemingly was taking the game away from the hosts before the latter walked off with a thigh injury. Following tests after the game, Sri Lanka Cricket have released a statement that de Silva will be ruled out of the Test series after day one.
At 54/3, Sri Lanka were in deep trouble against the home pace-attack, which breathed fire as they accounted for three quick wickets. However, the partnership between Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva not only drove the visitors out of rough waters but also put them on a pedestal during the second session of the day. But once de Silva walked away with an injury, Sri Lanka crumbled with the hosts restricting them to 396.
While the extent of de Silva’s injury was unknown at the end of the first day’s play, Sri Lanka Cricket has released a statement which gave a much-needed update on the batsmen’s fitness ahead of day two’s play.
“Batsman Dhananjaya de Silva, who suffered a ‘Thigh Strain,’ while batting in the 01st Test Match vs South Africa, will not be able to play for about 02 weeks. The player has sustained a grade 2 tear on his thigh,” updated the board on their official Twitter handle.
However, with no substitute in lieu with injured players, Sri Lanka will have to play with just 10 batsmen for the rest of the Boxing Day Test, with the second Test starting on January 3 in Johannesburg.