Kulasekara, Prasad added to SL squad

Monday, 19 December 2011 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sri Lanka have called up fast bowlers Nuwan Kulasekara and Dhammika Prasad to their Test squad for the remaining two matches against South Africa. Captain Tillakaratne Dilshan confirmed that the pair will fly in to South Africa in “a couple of days” after competing in the knockout stages of the domestic tournament at home.

After being beaten by an innings and 81 runs in Centurion, Sri Lanka are searching for ways to come back into the series and beefing up the bowling department is one of them. Before the tour of South Africa, four seamers, including Prasad and Kulasekara were ruled out with injury and Sri Lanka lost another quick when Nuwan Pradeep broke down during the tour match against the South African Invitation XI. At the time, the selectors did not name a replacement because they were hopeful that some of the injured lot would recover in time for the series.

Prasad was injured last month in a Test match against Pakistan in Sharjah. He pulled a quad muscle after bowling four overs in the first innings and was ruled out of the one-day series which followed. He made his comeback in Sri Lanka’s domestic Premier Limited Over tournament on Wednesday, where he took three for 30 for Sinhalese Cricket Club. He also played in Saturday’s final, although he had little success and finished with figures of 10-1-59-0.

Kulasekara had not played any cricket since October but returned to action this week. He played in the semi-final of the fifty-over domestic tournament and made an impressive return with two for 37 in seven overs for Colts Cricket Club against Nondescripts. Colts were knocked out of the competition, meaning Kulasekara did not have any other match practice.

Meanwhile, Angelo Mathews is expected to recover from a groin strain which kept him off the field during the Test match.

Matthews left the field midway through the second day and went for an MRI scan, which revealed that the injury was not serious. He returned to field and batted on the third day and will have eight days to recover before the second Test, which starts on December 26, in Durban.