PAK vs SL 2nd Test: We Want To Desperately Win This Series: Dimuth Karunaratne
Oct 7, 2017 at 12:59 PM
Before the start of the second Test, Sri Lanka’s skipper Dinesh Chandimal had made it clear that the Islanders would not play for a draw and Dimuth Karunaratne pretty much backed his captain’s statement with a strong showing on the opening day.
The 29-year old remained unbeaten on 133 while Chandimal was batting on 49 as the visitors finished the opening day of the game on a commanding 254 for 3. Speaking at the post-match conference, the centurion insisted that his hungry teammates desperately want to win the ongoing series which they lead 1-0 after the 21-run victory in the first match.
“We had a bad series against India. We want to desperately win this series. We are hungry. We just want to play our best and give our best and win the series. We are taking one day at a time. On day one we have done well and hopefully we will do well on day two as well,” Karunaratne said after the day’s play.
The left-handed batsman has been a bright spot for Sri Lanka in an otherwise dismal year so far. He is currently the third-highest run-scorer in the world in Tests with 870 runs so far, at an average of over 48 and is now focussed on doing well in the longest format of the game.
“I played quite well in domestic one-day tournament as well. I am enjoying my Test cricket more than my one-day game. I am now fully focused in doing well in Tests. Want to become a good Test cricketer and that’s my main focus now,” Karunaratne added.
The ongoing match, meanwhile, is Sri Lanka’s first day-night Test and the southpaw was happy to score a hundred in the monumental game.
“I played a first-class game in Sri Lanka back with the pink ball and got a hundred. So I had some confidence going into this game although what we played in Sri Lanka was a day game. Today only the last session was under lights. The first four hours it was nice and smooth but the last two hours were tough. When the new ball gets softer it gets lot more easier to score runs,” Karunaratne further said.