Young stars a bright spot for outplayed SL

SYDNEY: Sri Lanka will take heart in the potential of three young batsmen, Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal, despite their 3-0 Test series drubbing in Australia.

Little went right for the Sri Lankans on their Australian tour after heavy defeats in Hobart and Melbourne, but they saved their best fighting performance for the final Test, in Sydney.

Despite four players out with injury, Sri Lanka fought hard before going down by five wickets to Michael Clarke’s Australians late on the fourth day at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The shining light was the batting of their young brigade, Karunaratne, Thirimanne and Chandimal, and the wily spin of left-arm tweaker Rangana Herath, who came away with seven wickets on the turning wicket.

Karunaratne scored 85 in the second innings, Thirimanne hit 91 and Chandimal a spirited rearguard unbeaten 62 in Sri Lanka’s second innings.

“They all have talent and that’s why they’re here. As long as they are willing to learn and work hard, they will get big scores and be the future of Sri Lankan cricket,” skipper Mahela Jayawardene said.

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