ICC World Cup 2019: It is Tough to Bat in These Conditions - Dimuth Karunaratne
Twitter.

It was a disappointing performance from Sri Lankan team in their World Cup opener against New Zealand at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff on Saturday. Sri Lanka was obliterated by New Zealand by 10 wickets after the former could only post 136 runs on the board. Dimuth Karunaratne was the lone warrior for his side and stated that it is tough to bat in these arduous conditions where the ball was swinging and seaming.

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Sri Lanka kept losing wickets at regular intervals and they were never in the contest. Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson bowled with the brisk pace and scalped three wickets each. Furthermore, Trent Boult, James Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme and Mitchell Santner took one wicket each.

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Matt Henry celebrates his wicket. Twitter

136 was not enough – Dimuth Karunaratne.

Hence, Sri Lanka was put on the backfoot when they were reeling at 60-6. The Island nation could not breathe easy on the tricky pitch and they had no answers to New Zealand’s pace attack. Moreover, the Kiwis were brilliant in the field with Martin Guptill and James Neesham taking spectacular catches behind the wickets.

Sri Lanka’s rookie skipper Dimuth Karunaratne said while talking in the post-match presentation, “Of course, I think 136 is not enough in these conditions. Me and Kusal batted well, but we lost wickets regularly after that. We need to build partnerships. In the morning it was seaming and swinging a little bit, and they had that advantage”.

ICC World Cup 2019: It is Tough to Bat in These Conditions - Dimuth Karunaratne
Credits: ICC Twitter

“They also had good bowlers to do that. Everyone is coming to watch some good entertaining cricket, so I’m looking forward to some good batting wickets. 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 to set, it’s much easier to bat, and the part-timers come on so it’s much easier to get runs against them”.

Sri Lanka will need to pull up their socks in the batting department as they were not up to the mark. Dimuth Karunaratne-led side will play their second match of the ongoing ODI showpiece against Pakistan at County Ground, Bristol on 7th June. Thus, they have time to work on their weaknesses and come back stronger.

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