Dinesh Chandimal ‘over the moon’ despite defeat against England in Manchester Test

England defeated Sri Lanka by five wickets in the first Test at Emirates Old Trafford. Despite that, Sri Lanka veteran Dinesh Chandimal was ‘over the moon’ as he was extremely happy with the performance put on by his teammates. The visitors were 6/3 at one stage on Day 1 but captain Dhananjaya de Silva and Milan Rathnayake hit half-centuries each to help the Lankan Lions post 236 on the board.

Even in the second innings, Angelo Mathews and Chandimal himself have done a commendable job, which was later followed by a sensational century from Kamindu Mendis. It put Sri Lanka in a very comfortable spot - so much so, that the team had the belief to upset England on their home turf. They started well with the ball in the final innings as England were reduced to 70/3 but the trio of Joe Root, Harry Brook and Jamie Smith once again played to their merit and got the job done.

Sri Lanka came to the match as underdogs, which is why they were happy with the performance despite a defeat. After the game, Chandimal also credited the bowlers who kept them in the hunt in the second innings. He also expects the players to keep up with the momentum and put up a stronger fight in the second Test at Lord’s.

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“We are over the moon as a team, not for the result but the way we played in this game is unbelievable. In the first half an hour on the first day, we lost three wickets. Milan (Rathnayake) and Dhananjaya batted brilliantly and took us through the game,” Chandimal was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

“When we come to the bowling, Asitha and Prabath have done a tremendous job throughout the innings. So we have a lot of positive stuff so I'm sure we can give a good fight again at Lord's and I'm sure we can win a game here before we go back to Sri Lanka,” he added.

I had the same injury six months ago: Chandimal

Besides, Dinesh Chandimal copped a nasty blow on Day 3 of the Test match. Mark Wood’s bouncer hit his thumb, which forced the 34-year-old to retire hurt for a period. Sharing an update, the cricketer stated that he suffered the same injury six months back and hopes to be fit for the second Test.

“I had the same injury six months ago also, so in the x-ray, they said that it was aggravated so hopefully, I'll be fit to play the next game,” Chandimal said.