“I have never faced a situation like this,” says the Sri Lankan captain after losing three members in a six-man attack.
Sri Lanka were in such a good situation in the early stages of the first round that they might even have dominated had they not suffered multiple injuries. This, at least, was the opinion of Sri Lankan captain Dimuth Karunaratne, whose locker room was decimated by injury over the course of four days at Centurion.
Sri Lanka made 396 in the first inning, their highest score in South Africa, but lost to Dhananjaya de Silva with a thigh strain during what was arguably their most fluid inning of the Test. In the following days, Kasun Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara withdrew from the attack due to injuries, meaning Karunaratne only had three good bowling options left.
Despite the good first inning total, they lost by one inning and 45 runs, after South Africa racked up a total of 621 against a substantially reduced attack.
“I’ve never faced a situation like this and maybe no one has, where in one game you lose three bowlers,” Karunaratne said. “When we started we had a balanced attack, with bowlers that he could use for various roles. But in the early innings we lost that. We had been in a position where we could even have dominated the game. We had been in worse situations than this in our last tour of South Africa when we won those games. [game] For an entry it is a big disappointment.
“We had scored as much as we had scored [in South Africa] in the first entries. We knew after making that total that it would also be harder to hit later in the game. If our bowlers had stayed in shape, we could have done something. Our hitters did a good job in this game. “
Karunaratne wasn’t about to be too harsh on his second-inning hitting effort, either. Sri Lanka conceded a 225 lead in the first inning, but aside from De Silva’s absence, they also had to deal with a problem that Dinesh Chandimal picked up, as well as Rajitha and Kumara’s inability to do more than hobble between the grounds. . Wanindu Hasaranga also had trouble running after injuring his thigh while diving for the ball on the third day.
Karunaratne suggested that Sri Lanka’s collapse to 180 in the second inning was at least in part due to injuries having erased their prospects for victory.
“We were 200 runs behind and if we had chased it and set a target, we still wouldn’t have had bowlers to defend it,” he said. “We had two bowlers take grounds, and after their spells were over, the next bowlers we had available were myself, Kusal Mendis and Dasun Shanaka.
“We have three goalkeepers in the XI, so we don’t have a lot of halftime pitchers. I think that must have been on the hitters’ minds in the second inning, because no matter how well we set a goal, it’s still not going. to be easy. And when the hitters can’t run, that makes it difficult because then you can only score with four or six. Staying two and a half days at this wicket would have been difficult. I was still sewing and the rebound was inconsistent. “
Sri Lanka hopes to have senior angler Suranga Lakmal back for the second test, but is battling time to recover from a hamstring problem on Sunday. Chandimal also has doubts with what appeared to be a groin problem he suffered while hitting. However, first-order hitter Oshada Fernando is expected to be ready for the second game. Sri Lanka also has fast bowlers Dushmantha Chameera and Asitha Fernando in reserve, while Vishwa Fernando emerged unscathed from the first test, the only fast frontline to do so.
“We are not sure of Suranga’s physical form. We hope that he is fit, but we will have to watch for a few more days. Chandimal’s injury must also be observed. We do not know yet if he will be able to play, but I suspect that he will be able to. replace Dhananjaya de Silva. The big loss for Wanderers is that we no longer have our best attack. We will do what we can with the players we have left.
“In the locker room, it’s not easy to handle this kind of situation. As captain, I need to figure out how to keep my head up and keep the players together. There is a lot of disappointment because we came into this tour with a lot of hope. We had had a positive mindset. But the series is not over yet. I’m sure the replacement players will do well in the second test. “
Andrew Fidel Fernando is the ESPNcricinfo correspondent in Sri Lanka. @afidelf
.
