Twitter Reactions: Dimuth Karunaratne excels on ODI captaincy debut as Sri Lanka win the series in Scotland

Dimuth Karunaratne is Sri Lanka's first captain to win his first away Test and ODI series as a captain.

By Anuraag Peesara

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Dimuth Karunaratne
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Dimuth Karunaratne. (Photo Source: Twitter)

The rain gods have been very cruel to Scotland in recent weeks and once again, they took center stage as Sri Lanka defeated the hosts in a rain-marred game. Some heavy showers stopped play during Scotland’s run chase and after that, the target was reduced. Despite that, Kyle Coetzer’s men fell short by 35 runs.

Sri Lanka got off to a great start batting first, with Dimuth Karunaratne and Avishka Fernando handling the new ball bowlers brilliantly. The duo managed to upset the rhythm of their bowlers and kept striking some good shorts throughout their partnership. Avishka Fernando accelerated after getting in and completed a fifty in no time.

After adding 123 runs for the first wicket, Fernando was dismissed for a 78-ball 74. Karunaratne continued to play second fiddle, this time to Kusal Mendis. He too started on an aggressive note on one end as Karunaratne completed his half-century at the other. They went past the 200-mark with just one wicket down, but some good work from the Scottish brought them back in the game.

Karunaratne, Thisara Perera and Angelo Mathews were dismissed in a span of six runs and Kusal Mendis too fell after completing his fifty. Thanks to a handy 44 off 40 balls from Lahiru Thirimanne towards the end, Sri Lanka finished with 322 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. Bradley Wheal was the pick of the Scottish bowlers, returning with figures of 3/49.

Nuwan Pradeep leads the charge with the ball

Scotland did get off to a decent start with Matthew Cross and Mark Coetzer adding a 51-run partnership. Coetzer did the bulk of the scoring in this partnership and saw his side complete the powerplay overs without losing a wicket. But Coetzer and the in-form Calum MacLeod fell in quick succession, pushing them into a dangerous situation.

With Craig Wallace’s company, Matthew Cross completed a fifty but once again the Lankan bowlers struck hard. Nuwan Pradeep bowled a couple of amazing spells in this period to keep the Scotland lineup on the backfoot. This was the time when the rain came into the picture and the target was revised to 235 runs in 34 overs.

It was always going to be a mountain to climb, but George Munsey chipped in with a 42-ball 61. It wasn’t enough to take them over the line and they finished with 199 runs on board. Nuwan Pradeep picked up four wickets for the Lankan unit, whilst Lakmal picked two.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

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