|
Sri Lankan batters Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal surpassed two batting legends from the island nation on Sunday, rising to number four and seven in the highest Test run-scorer charts.
Karunaratne and Chandimal accomplished this feat during the second Test against England at Lord's. Karunaratne scored 7 and 55 while Chandimal had knocks of 23 and 58. Karunaratne overtook legendary all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya to become the fourth-highest run-getter in Tests for Sri Lanka with 6,990 runs in 93 Tests and 178 innings at an average of 40.87, with 16 centuries and 38 fifties. His best score is 244. Jayasuriya had scored 6,973 runs in 110 Tests at an average of 40.07, with 14 centuries and 31 fifties in 188 innings. His best score was 340. Chandimal overtook legendary Lankan batter Marvan Atapattu to become the seventh-highest run-getter for the Lankan Lions. In 81 Tests, he has scored 5,656 runs in 146 innings at an average of 43.17, with 15 centuries and 28 fifties. His best score is 206*. Atapattu scored 5,502 runs in 90 matches at an average of 39.02, with 16 centuries and 17 fifties in 156 innings. His best score was 249. Wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Sangakkara is the leading run-getter for SL in Tests, scoring 12,400 runs at an average of 57.40, with 38 centuries and 52 half-centuries in 233 innings. His best score is 319. Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to field first. England scored 427 runs in the first innings, with Joe Root (143 in 206 balls, with 18 fours) and Gus Atkinson (118 in 115 balls, with 14 fours and four sixes) slamming centuries to take England to a massive score. Asitha Fernando (5/102) was the top bowler for Sri Lanka. Milan Rathnayake and Lahiru Kumara took two wickets each. In their first innings, despite Kamindu Mendis's fighting 74 runs in 120 balls, with eight fours and three sixes, Sri Lanka could manage just 196 runs as the top-order let the team down again. Chris Woakes, Olly Stones, Gus Atkinson, and Matthew Potts got two wickets each, while Shoaib Bashir got one. England led by 231 runs. Sri Lanka showcased much better control with the ball in England's second innings, bundling them out for 251 runs. After Root's 103 in 121 balls, with 10 fours, the second biggest contribution was delivered by Harry Brook (37 in 36 balls, with four boundaries and a six). Asitha Fernando (3/52) and Lahiru Kumara (3/53) were the top wicket takers for Sri Lanka. In the run-chase of 483, Sri Lanka put up a fight as three half-centuries came from Dimuth Karunaratne (55 in 129 balls, with seven fours), Dinesh Chandimal (58 in 62 balls, with 11 fours) and skipper Dhananjaya de Silva (50 in 71 balls, with seven fours). But despite that, Lanka was bundled out for 292 runs and lost by 190 runs. Atkinson (5/62) was the pick of the bowlers for England, picking his third five-wicket haul at the Lord's. Olly Stone and Chris Woakes also got two wickets. Atkinson secured the 'Player of the Match' award for his all-round performance. (ANI)
|
