“Giving SL something to play for”: Twitter reactions on Chamika Karunaratne maiden ODI half century vs Australia

Dixit Bhargav | 24/06/2022
"Giving SL something to play for": Twitter reactions on Chamika Karunaratne maiden ODI half century vs Australia

Chamika Karunaratne maiden ODI half century: The Sri Lankan all-rounder played a typical rescuing act at the Premdasa Stadium today.

During the fifth ODI of the ongoing Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka all-rounder Chamika Karunaratne’s maiden ODI half-century saved his team from an embarrassing innings total.

Coming in to bat at No. 8 in as early as the 17th over, Karunaratne scored 75 (75) with the help of eight fours and two sixes at a strike rate of 100. Sri Lanka, who were reeling at 61/6 at the time of Karunaratne’s arrival in the middle, managed to score 160/10 in 43.1 overs primarily due to his rescuing act.

It was only on the third delivery that Karunaratne faced off Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell that he hit a boundary to start his innings on a positive note. A boundary each in the next two overs perhaps aided Karunaratne in finding his rhythm this afternoon.

With Sri Lanka further crumbling to 85/8, the right-handed batter batted with supreme maturity to not give up without a fight. Karunaratne, whose batting potential wasn’t hidden until this day, proved a valid reason as to why he can be trusted with a bat in hand even at the highest level.

It was on the penultimate delivery of the 38th over that Karunaratne hit Australia pacer Pat Cummins for a boundary to bring up a maiden half-century in international cricket.

It was against Cummins that Karunaratne top-edged a delivery to lose his wicket. While the 26-year old player would’ve ideally wanted to play the remaining seven overs as well, Karunaratne now has the second-highest ODI score by a No. 8 Sri Lankan batter.

Twitter reactions on Chamika Karunaratne maiden ODI half century

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Post Edited By: Dixit Bhargav
Australia Australia tour of Sri Lanka 2022 Chamika Karunaratne Sri Lanka

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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