KJP retired hurt
Colombo, 9th June 2017
After a brilliant knock of 47 off 44 balls that included 5 boundaries, a flare up of a Hamstring injury has seen Kusal Janith Perera retired hurt from the Champions Trophy 2017.
Perera, whose partnership of 26 with Kusal Mendis and 75 with skipper Mathews yesterday (8) anchored the Sri Lankan innings after the loss of Danushka Gunathilaka, was helped off the field in the 42nd over, and preliminary medical investigations have revealed a possible lateral mid-hamstring injury.
KJP will undergo radiographic testing today (9) to ascertain the extent of his injury.
Sri Lankas Kusal Perera (C) gestures as he retires from the game with an injury during the ICC Champions Trophy match between India and Sri Lanka at The Oval in London on June 8, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Ian KINGTON / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE
Sri Lanka who had two standbys on tour training with the team in the UK, substituted Danushka Gunathilaka in after the untimely injury of Chamara Kapugedara on Wednesday (7) and will fly in 25 year old All-rounder Dhanajaya de Silva to join spinner Dilruwan Perera as the 3rd standby.
Sri Lanka yesterday successfully chased the highest Champions Trophy total to date, to stun defending champs India with a seven wicket victory at the Oval, in an innings that was controlled, strategic and showed Sri Lanka play its fire-brand cricket once again.
Skipper Mathews expressed his thoughts after the game saying
“We played our brand of Cricket today, and I am rightly proud of us …. It’s been a tough few months, and especially after the lives lost in the floods, I’m happy we were able to put a smile back on the faces of our countrymen”
“The foresight of the board seriously paid off when we had Danushka available and acclimatised to step in [today] after the unfortunate injury to Kapu [yesterday]”
“Our resource team have been fantastic. They’ve really put us through our paces the past few days [and over the past month and a half] and that preparation has [really] paid off. I want to thank every single one of the boys for their effort today, and to our resource team, led by team Manager Asanka Gurusinha – we couldn’t have done it without your motivation and support!
“Head Coach Ford, our specialist coaches Allan Donald, Nic Pothas and Nuwan, our support team, trainer Nick Lee, physio Ajantha, masseur Rohan, together with tour Manager Mr. Fernando and our analyst Sriram, you have been a tower of strength to us”
“We go into the next game with the same attitude and preparation, and we will play our hearts out again for our Nation” (Angelo Mathews)
