[caption id="attachment_111111" align="alignleft" width="405"]
Kasun Rajitha hobbles off with a groin injury on day two, Sunday, of the first test at Centurion between Sri Lanka and South Africa[/caption]
As many as four Sri Lankan players, who are now playing in the first cricket Test at Centurion in South Africa, got injured offering the advantage on a platter to the opposition.
South Africa gained a massive and, most likely, a match-winning lead of 225 runs in the first innings as three more Lankans –all main strike-bowlers— joined batsman Dhananjaya de Silva in the ‘injury list’ yesterday (28) denting the Lankans’ attack and the edge they could have had in the Test.
Sri Lanka were 65/2 at stumps on day three yesterday still behind 160 runs after losing the initiative that they got after the first days play on Saturday.
Joining de Silva –who will be out of the entire series due to a thigh tear-- was opening fast-bowler Kasun Rajitha, who got injured on Sunday (27) and was ruled out of the game. Lahiru Kumara, another main fast bowler, pulled his hamstring yesterday. The leg-spinning all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga too got injured yesterday yet he returned to action. Yet the details of both Kumara’s and Hasaranga’s injuries are yet to be revealed.
The array of the injuries prompted skipper Dimuth Karunaratne to use as many as seven bowlers, including himself and batsman Kusal Mendis, in the South African first innings where they amassed 621 runs including four half-centuries and a 199 by Faf du Plessis.
The mockery of the situation was that it was only Vishwa Fernando and Dasun Shanaka who remained for the Lankans as a recongnised bowler at one point. Out of the 22 players named by Sri Lanka for the South Africa tour, six are currently injured.
Has the recent Lanka Premier League (LPL) where all those injured players participated in, in hectic T20 cricket for almost three weeks until just two days before their departure to South Africa, caused these injuries?
If so, it could be a tragic proposition as Sri Lanka were expected to do well and repeat their historic series-winning feat, which they made in South Africa last time (2019).
On hindsight, after the Indian Premier League (IPL), both the Australian and Indian players are involving in a gruelling Test series Down Under without much injury fears. So are the New Zealanders who play in another Test series simultaneously in New Zealand at the moment.
Who is to blame? The Lankan team is reportedly having a dedicated physio, masseur, and a trainer too. Is it below-par body and condition maintenance on the part of the Lankan players or is it too much cricket as well as the scarce priority given to the important Test series while involving in the LPL in a mighty rush?
At the end of the day, will Sri Lanak face the Proteas’ battering unduly in a series which they could have done wonders as the home team was not up to the mark this time around, suffering from both internal as well as external problems in their cricketing structure.
(RSS)
SCORECARD
Sri Lanka 1st innings 396
South Africa 1st innings (overnight 317/4)
Dean Elgar c & b Shanaka 95
Aiden Markram c Shanaka b Vishwa Fernando 68
Rassie van der Dussen c Dickwella b Kumara 15
Faf du Plessis c Karunaratne b Hasaranga 199
Quinton de Kock c Sub b Hasaranga 18
Temba Bavuma c Dickwella b Shanaka 71
Wiaan Mulder c Dickwella b Hasaranga 36
Keshav Maharaj c Hasaranga b Vishwa Fernando 73
Anrich Nortje c Dickwella b Vishwa Fernando 0
Lutho Sipamla lbw b Hasaranga 0
Lungi Ngidi not out 2
Extras (nb 7, w 10, b 9, lb 18) 44
Total (all out, 142.1 overs) 621
Fall of wickets: 1-141 (Markram, 28.4 ov), 2-200 (van der Dussen, 42.6 ov), 3-200 (Elgar, 43.4 ov), 4-220 (de Kock, 47.1 ov), 5-399 (Bavuma, 90.4 ov), 6-476 (Mulder, 107.4 ov), 7-609 (du Plessis, 137.5 ov), 8-610 (Nortje, 138.6 ov), 9-611 (Sipamla, 139.2 ov), 10-621 (Maharaj, 142.1 ov)
Bowling: Vishwa Fernando 31.1-3-129-3 (3w), Rajitha 2.1-0-16-0 (1nb), Shanaka 28.5-2-98-2 (3nb), Hasaranga 45-5-171-4 (1nb), Kumara 21.1-0-103-1 (2nb), Karunaratne 6.5-0-36-0, Mendis 7-0-41-0 (2nb)
Sri Lanka 2nd innings
Dimuth Karunaratne b Ngidi 6
Kusal Perera not out 33
Kusal Mendis c van der Dussen b Ngidi 0
Dinesh Chandimal not out 21
Did not bat: Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, and Lahiru Kumara
Extras (nb 1, b 4) 5
Total (for 2 wickets, 12 overs) 65
Fall of wickets: 1-10 (Karunaratne, 2.6 ov), 2-22 (Mendis, 4.5 ov) Bowling: Ngidi 6-0-28-2, Nortje 3-0-23-0, Mulder 3-0-10-0 (1nb)