Rex Clementine in London
Sri Lanka’s former captain Dimuth Karunaratne stressed on the need for the batters to put their hands up in the final Test match against England after a sloppy show so far. Batting collapses have cost Sri Lanka dearly as they lost both the Tests inside four days. Friday’s third Test is not a dead rubber as World Test Championship points are at stake for teams.
“We have been chatting what our approach should be against England’s pace attack. Whether we should see off the new ball or whether we should be aggressive earlier on. Some of the young players like Kamindu have done well to adapt so quickly. That’s the beauty of the game. Some players adapt quickly and some struggle,” the veteran opening batsman told reporters.
Dimuth said that his team will be targeting England’s leading run scorer Joe Root, who hammered hundreds in each innings in the second Test. Root has made big runs against Sri Lanka in recent years and averages 67 against them, way above his career average of 50.
“One of the key things we have been chatting about is how are we going to dismiss Joe Root? We have a bowling meeting tomorrow and one thing we want to have is a good plan for Joe. His past performance we need to analyze and we need to find out what we can do in these conditions to dismiss him,” Dimuth said.
“He has played some vital knocks. He scored massively in Galle when England came to Sri Lanka. England batters scored around him. We have been too attacking for him. We need to deny him boundaries and not give too many balls in his strong areas. If we get Joe early then we are in the game,” Dimuth noted.
Dimuth also praised fast bowler Asitha Fernando, who has now moved to number eight in the ICC Rankings for bowlers in Test match cricket. Asitha is the leading wicket taker in the series from either side with 14 scalps to his name.
“His consistency and line and lengths have improved a lot in recent years. He works really hard during training and knows what to do in the middle. That’s the secret of his success. I hope he goes on to become the number one bowler in the world.”