Karunaratne a solid 93 in Sri Lanka’s 227/4; Chandimal 60*, Dickwella 42*
Opening batsman Dimuth Karunaratne proved to be Sri Lanka’s anchorman stroking a solid 93 off 205 balls to pull his side out of the rut of 61 for 3 wickets to 227 for 4 in 90 overs at the close on a green top wicket in Abu Dhabi on the opening day of the first Test match against Pakistan Thursday. Skipper Dinesh Chandimal was unbeaten on a painstaking 60 off 184 balls spanning 6 boundaries having shared in a productive 66-run unbroken partnership with wicket-keeper batsman Niroshan Dickwella who was on a quick fire 63-ball 42 studded with 5 boundaries and a six.
That Karunaratne’s innings ended by a tragic run out going for a cheeky single with his captain the non-striker Dinesh Chandimal not responding was an agony from the ecstasy of having done the hard repair work. Indeed, Karunaratne carried back to the pavilion the grief of not only missing out on his seventh century, but also a major part of what the 100-run fourth wicket alliance promised to blossom to bigger things. From a Sri Lankan perspective it was a tough call at a stepping stone juncture for a big total with only two more specialist batsmen to follow. The 29-year old Karunaratne was denied of what would have been successive Test centuries following his ton off India in the second innings of the third test in the recent home series. His laborious innings contained five boundaries.
In the circumstances, Chandimal carried the mantle burden with tremendous aplomb in compensating for the senseless loss of Karunaratne’s wicket. The skipper came to the middle in a crisis situation having lost Kaushal Silva bowled by Hasan Ali for 12, Lahiru Thirimanne LBW for a duck by an indiscreet swipe from off to leg off Yasir Shah, and Kusal Mendis caught behind for 10 off Shah in quick succession. Chandimal read the situation well taking more than 27 balls to get off the mark as he progressively dug in as the perfect cushion to Karunaratne’s lead role in blunting the Pakistanis.
By Srian Obeyesekere
-The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Sri Lanka Cricket-
