Sri Lanka vs New Zealand: Dimuth Karunaratne to present his motorbike to his brother

Dimuth Karunaratne has been an inspirational figure for Sri Lanka cricket of late. The southpaw was one of the Islanders’ leading run-scorers in the 2019 World Cup. He was making his ODI comeback after a long gap and was made the captain. But the pressure of the big stage didn’t fluster him by any means. Recently, he had a good outing in the Test series against New Zealand at home.

In the first Test at the Galle International Stadium, he scored a masterful 139 in the second innings and guided his team to victory. Even in the second match at the P Sara Oval in Colombo, the left-hander scored a half-century to show his class. Overall, he notched 247 runs at an average of 61.75. The Black Caps won the second game by an innings and 65 runs to draw level in the series.

I don’t want to sell it off, says Karunaratne

After the conclusion of the series, Karunaratne won a Yamaha motorcycle as the ‘most powerful player’ of the series. However, the Lankan captain now plans to gift the same to his brother. “I have decided to gift it to my brother,” Karunaratne was quoted as saying minutes after the match ended. He was handed over the dummy key at the presentation ceremony.

The keys of the motorcycle and the bike will be delivered to him once the authorities get the original RTO number plate. The motorbike was also displayed in Galle. “I don’t have any motorcycle in my garage and this is the one I have won as a prize and don’t want to sell it off,” Karunaratne added.  He was also the leading run-scorer of the series and one of the two Lankan players to score a century.

As far as Sri Lanka are concerned, they are now scheduled to lock horns with the Black Caps in a three-match T20I series. The fixtures get underway on September 1 and all the encounters will be played in Kandy. Sri Lanka will be captained by veteran fast bowler Lasith Malinga.

The Lankans haven’t had the greatest of times versus the Kiwis in white-ball cricket this year. Back in January, they lost three ODIs and a solitary T20I in New Zealand. In the 2019 World Cup, Kane Williamson and Co beat them by 10 wickets with over 30 overs to spare.

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