Australia vs Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne collapsed after being hit on the back of his neck by a Pat Cummins’ bouncer

Australia and Sri Lanka are fighting it out at the Manuka Oval in Canberra in the second and final Test of the series. The second day also went the home side’s way as Kurtis Patterson also made merry of the Lankan bowling attack to score a century as Australia declared on a mammoth 534/5. However, there was a dreadful incident on the field when Sri Lanka came out to bat as Dimuth Karunaratne was hit just above the neck by a Pat Cummins’ bouncer.

The incident took place in the 31st over of the innings when Sri Lanka were looking good at 82/0. Pat Cummins came storming in and delivered a 142.5 kph bouncer. It was directed at a very uncomfortable height for the batsman and kept following Karunaratne. Moreover, the pace didn’t give him the chance to get outside the line of the ball and was hit just above the neck.

Soon after being hit, Dimuth Karunaratne fell in his crease grimacing in pain. Australians were left worried and Cricket Australia’s medical staff was the first to come out and attend the batsman.

Here’s the video:

Karunaratne taken off via stretcher

The only positive things was that the batsman responded to the doctor after some time. But Karunaratne had to be taken off from the field via stretcher. There were some serious faces in the Australian camp as they always remind of their very own Phil Hughes who lost his life due to a similar incident. The play resumed after some time while Karunaratne is being treated.

As far as the second day’s play is concerned, after a good start, Sri Lanka’s innings derailed once again. They ended the day on 123/3 after 43 overs and still trail by 411 runs in the first innings. They are effectively four down with Karunaratne taken to the hospital and it remains to be seen if he returns to the field again.

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