Dimuth Karunaratne: “For me, batting first is the right decision because we have two spinners”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne insists that he made the right decision to bat first, even though his side failed to capitalise on a strong start.

Karunaratne and Oshada Fernando amassed a 96-run partnership, during which Karunaratne brought up his fifty, on the first day against Pakistan in Ralwalpindi.

However, after Karunaratne was dismissed by Shaheen Shah Afridi for 59, Sri Lanka lost wickets at regular intervals.

Despite this, Karunaratne defended his decision to bat first and feels his side can get to 300 after ending the day on 202/5.

“For me, batting first is the right decision because we have two spinners,” he was quoted as saying by PakPassion. “Pakistan bowled well after lunch with a good line and length and they kept frustrating us and we made mistakes because we were struggling to get runs.

“We have a target of 300 in mind. I think it was a 50/50 day, we dominated the first session but they came back hard. The wicket was really good to bat on.”

[interaction id=”5deb1621eb8aaf7dea259f44″]