ICC World Cup 2019 | Sri Lanka need to build partnerships, says Dimuth Karunaratne

06/02/2019

Dimuth Karunaratne has stated that Sri Lanka need to build partnerships, referring to his side’s dismal batting display against New Zealand on Saturday where they were dismissed for 136 runs. Sri Lanka were put to bat first and were completely decimated by the swing on a green wicket.

Sri Lanka lost their opener Lahiru Thirimanne to Matt Henry in the very first over of the match. Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Perera looked to hold the innings but the latter lost his wicket for 29 runs in the ninth over, followed by Kusal Mendis’ wicket in the very next ball. Karunaratne scored an unbeaten 50, becoming only the second captain to carry the bat in ODIs while Thisara Perera’s 27 was the only other notable score. Sri Lanka were wrapped up for a meagre 136 in 29.2 overs.

“Of course, I think 136 was not enough in these conditions. Me and Kusal batted well, but we lost wickets regularly after that. We need to build partnerships,” Karunaratne said at the post-match presentation ceremony, reported Cricbuzz.

“In the morning it was seaming and swinging a little bit, and they had that advantage. They also had good bowlers to do that.”

The 1996 World Cup winners failed to survive the full 50 overs in their first warm-up game against South Africa as well but still managed to reach 251. They played out 50 overs in the next warm-up game against Australia and scored 239 runs in that match. The skipper reckoned that the team practised hard but suggested the batsmen to play a more mature innings.

“We batted well in practice games and practised hard, but we need to understand when to accelerate and stay patient before we go for our shots. It's tough to bat in these conditions, but we need to give ourselves a chance - after you get set, it's much easier to bat, and the part-timers come on so it's much easier to get runs against them,” expressed the 31-year-old.

“Everyone is coming to watch some good entertaining cricket, so I'm looking forward to some good batting wickets,” signed off Karunaratne.