Sri Lanka's Dimuth Karunaratne slams his 38th fifty in Tests
Sri Lanka cricket team opener Dimuth Karunaratne hit a knock of 55 in his side's 2nd innings of the 2nd Test match versus England at Lord's. Karunaratne was looking settled before Olly Stone dismissed him in the 47th over. The senior batter is now 10 runs shy of completing 7,000 runs in Tests. Earlier, he scored 7 runs in Sri Lanka's 1st innings.
A watchful knock from Karunaratne's blade
Sri Lanka ended Day 3 on 53/2 from 24 overs with Karunaratne unbeaten on 23 from 48 balls. On Day 4, the veteran batter started watchfully before hitting Gus Atkinson for three fours in the 30th over. In the 35th over, he got to his fifty from 98 balls. His runs dried up thereafter before Stone dismissed the player with extra bounce on offer.
Fifth fifty for Karunaratne versus England
Karunaratne hammered 55 from 129 balls with the help of 7 fours. Karunaratne now owns 6,990 runs at 40.87. He hit his 38th fifty (100s: 16). As per ESPNcricinfo, in 10 matches versus England, he has scored 603 runs at 31.73. This was his 5th fifty. He hit his 20th fifty in away matches (home of opposition). He owns 2,840 runs at 31.55.
4th-highest run-getter for SL in Tests
During the course of his knock, Karunaratne went past Sanath Jayasuriya to become Sri Lanka's 4th-highest scorer in Tests. Former opener Jayasuriya managed 6,970 runs for the Lankans at 40.07.
Match summary
England were 216/6 at one stage before Joe Root and Atkinson guided them to 427. For SL, pacer Asitha Fernando claimed a fifer (5/102). The visitors perished for 196 with Kamindu Mendis being the lone fighter (74). England then got to 251 with the help of Root's 103. Fernando and Lahiru Kumara took three-fers. SL have seen Karunaratne scoring a fifty (2nd innings).
