Chamika Karunaratne hugs Dunith Wellalage after the youngster had taken a wicket in the second ODI against Australia

Dhananjaya de Silva gave Sri Lanka the initial breakthrough with the crucial wickets of Aaron Finch and David Warner

•  Dhananjaya’s spell was crucial for our win, Wellalage is special

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Player of the match Chamika Karunaratne put aside his excellent performance with the ball and on the field to heap praise on his team mates after Sri Lanka had won the second ODI against Australia by 26 runs (D/L method) at Pallekele on Thursday to level the five-match series one-all.

Dhananjaya de Silva a part time off-spinner took the crucial wickets of Australian openers Aaron Finch and David Warner in the eighth and 14th overs to give Sri Lanka the breakthrough they needed to defend a revised total of 216 in 43 overs.

“The wickets that Dhananjaya took were crucial because we got them in the first 10-14 overs, that’s why we were able to drag the game deep as the wicket started to turn. He put on a good spell. We did not put up a big total because it was not easy to score on that wicket, so Dhananjaya’s spell was important,” said Karunaratne at the post-match media conference.

“Special mention must be made of Dunith Wellalage. He is only 19, a small player but I admire him for his fighting attitude. It is seldom you find players of that caliber at his age. He contributed greatly towards the win with two wickets and the catch he held was important to the side. 

“There was a lot of input from the other players as well. Thinking out of the box as a batsman and bowling accordingly I managed to bluff the Australians. Sometimes they don’t work out as planned but yesterday (Thursday) everything worked to plan. Our tactics that day really worked well for us.”

Australia were dismissed for 189 in 37.1 overs with Karunaratne returning career best figures of 3 for 47.

“To come to this position, I worked very hard and a lot of people helped me like (Lasith) Malinga who taught tactics on how to tackle a batsman and how to think out of the box. It is not just yesterday or today but Malinga has been helping me from the age of 17 or 18,” said Karunaratne. 

“Although I didn’t know much about it at that time, now I know how to think and how to bluff a player. Even the head coach (Chris Silverwood) has been very supportive. He corrected some small mistakes of mine during the tour of Bangladesh. And before that others like Chaminda Vaas and Darshana Gamage also assisted me. Very happy with my effort, that all my hard work has yielded a good result.”

Karunaratne was of the view that had Wanindu Hasaranga played the match would have been won easily.

“The wicket was slow and there was spin on it. It would have suited his style of bowling. We missed him a lot not only for his bowling but also for his batting and fielding. He is one of the best all-rounders in the world. If he comes into the team we will be much stronger and we will have a good opportunity to win a series against Australia,” said Karunaratne.

“We have a good batting line-up and it is gelling very well. As players we are pushing our levels to improve with every game individually as well as for the team. We can make small mistakes but we have to rectify them as we go along. We are pushing ourselves more than 100 percent to win the series.”

Hasaranga was forced to sit out the second ODI with a strained groin of his left leg, and it is still not certain whether he will be fit enough to play in the third ODI at the R. Premadasa Stadium tomorrow. 

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