Karunaratne calls for batting patience after Sri Lanka’s opening loss
1 June 2019 08:45 pm
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Dimuth Karunaratne urged Sri Lanka’s batsmen to follow his lead and urged patience as his side aim to recover from a heavy opening loss to New Zealand.
Sri Lanka succumbed to 136 all out and then a ten-wicket defeat in Cardiff, with their skipper’s gutsy half-century the standout contribution in their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup contest.
The 31-year-old has made a seamless return to one-day cricket after four years on the sidelines, scoring fifties in tune-up contests against Scotland and South Africa.
But with the 52 stand he compiled with Thisara Perera the only characterful collaboration, Karunaratne implored his players to show more caution at the wicket in the coming games.
“You need to have a target. It wasn’t a 300 wicket, so you need another game plan,” said Karunaratne, who carried his bat for 52.
“You can’t go in and hit every ball, you have to stay calm sometimes and give yourself a chance. Once you get set, you can score.
“New Zealand bowled really well, we have to give them credit but if we kept a few wickets in hand in the middle, only then would we have had a chance.