Dimuth Karunaratne ruled out of World Cup

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Sri Lankan batsman Dimuth Karunaratne, on Thursday, was ruled out of the remainder of the World Cup after suffering an injury to his little finger during the team’s practice session ahead of Sunday’s crucial encounter against Australia.

An X-ray on the injured finger revealed a fracture putting an end to the young batsman’s hopes of featuring in the second half of the tournament.

The latest injury compounds Sri Lanka’s woes, who’ve already had fast bowler Dhammika Prasad and all-rounder Jeevan Mendis ruled out of the tournament due to injuries. The Sri Lankan team management have requested the ICC Technical Committee to sanction the inclusion of leg-spinner Seekkuge Prasanna as replacement in the squad.

“Dimuth (Karunaratne) injured his hand during a fielding session and X-rays indicated a fracture just above the base of his left small finger,” former cricketer and Chairman of Selectors, Sanath Jayasuriya said. “He has to undergo surgery and will be out for about four weeks. He will return home. We have requested the ICC technical committee to include Seekkuge Prasanna in the squad as his replacement.”

Prasanna was originally flown in as cover for left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who required four stitches after injuring his index finger attempting a return catch during the England game. Herath remains unlikely to feature in their next game.

Despite featuring in all four of Sri Lanka’s matches in the World Cup thus far, Karunaratne batted only in the games against New Zealand and Afghanistan and averaged 18.50 with a top-score of 23. The man Karunaratne pipped to the World Cup squad, Kusal Perera, is now being flown in to Australia as cover to theirbeleaguered batting line-up.”We have only seven fit batsmen in the side and Kusal is being brought in as a precautionary measure,” Jayasuriya said.

Sri Lanka next face pre-tournament favourites Australia on Sunday in a crucial Pool A encounter at the Sydney Cricket Ground.