Sri Lanka lost in the recent Test match against New Zealand
The Test series of New Zealand’s tour of Sri Lanka ended last August 26. New Zealand won the match by an innings and 65 runs. Sri Lanka team captain Dimuth Karunaratne wants the team’s batsmen to perform better in the future. This is after Sri Lanka’s loss against New Zealand. The tour proceeds to the T20I series, kicking off on September 1.
The captain thinks that his batsmen lacked patience in Test cricket. ‘When I say players should be free, I don’t mean that you just hit every ball that you see’, he stated. ‘It’s about keeping your mind free. If you at any time feel like you should play the reverse-sweep but you stop yourself, you’re restricting yourself. There are times when you can get runs from that shot, and when it’s a safe option. It’s about being relaxed’.
The Test series of the tour features two Test matches between New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Sri Lanks won the first Test match of the tour by six wickets. Despite the team’s early win in the Test series, the Sri Lanka captain still thought that his team could have played better in the recent Test. ‘We got the wickets of the first three batsmen quickly, and I thought the other wickets would also come easily. But they (New Zealand) batted really well, and the pitch also dried out a bit, and the moisture that was there disappeared,’ Karunaratne said. ‘Despite that, I think we could have bowled better, and bowled tighter’.
The Test series is a part of the new ICC World Test Championship 2019-21. Sri Lanka and New Zealand both gained 60 points for their wins in the Test series of the tour. Karunaratne was also team captain of Sri Lanka in the recent ICC Cricket World Cup. It is one of the biggest events in cricket that is held once every four years. New Zealand made it to the finals round of the ICC Cricket World Cup and played against England. Know more about the ICC Cricket World Cup at Betwala.
READ MORE: What is the ICC Cricket World Cup?
