Though we were at some standard in terms of Test cricket, it disappeared after the Test series loss in India.
However, one particular inning in that series by our batsman we cannot ignore at all. It is Dimuth Karunarathne’s fourth-innings hundred of staggering quality. There he scored 107 runs, and the difference is that he made his century against an exceptional balling attack of the Indians, and on an exceedingly treacherous surface. Even the Indian star batsmen such as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer couldn’t make a century in the match. According to ESPN reporter Andrew Fidel Fernando, his inning was ‘a mortal treading into a galaxy of the divine’:
“Of the keys to his success, hanging back and committing late to the spinners is the main one, plus he also picks high-percentage scoring shots, so that even if he mistimes the ball, the chances of getting out are low. Karunaratne has a perennially low control percentage. But stats nerds, listen up: if there were such a thing as a playing shots with low wicket potential, he’d be one of the best on that front.”
Centuries
With this hundred his number of Test centuries climbed up to 14 with 5620 total runs and 39.57 average points. On the Sri Lanka run-scorers’ list, he has surpassed TM Dilshan, Thilan Samaraweera, and Marvan Atapattu. The men ahead of him are Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Angelo Mathews, and Aravinda de Silva. So, if he played another 4 – 5 years for the country, definitely he could exceed the 10,000 runs benchmark.
We cannot avoid discussing Dimuth Karunaratne’s captaincy as well. In fact, one can say his captaincy has failed in terms of Indian series. But with absence of all the key bowlers, and bad performances by senior batters such as Angelo Mathews, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva, the defeat is not a surprise. So he needs team-mates’ support, coaches’ perseverance, administrators’ understanding and support staff’s attention in the upcoming matches.
Uphill task
Winning against India in Indian home conditions is an uphill task not only for Sri Lanka, but also for World’s best Test teams such as Australia and England. On the other hand, Sri Lanka couldn’t win a single Test match even when our champion cricketers like Mahela Jayawardhane, Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralidaran and Sanath Jayasuriya played for the team. And we shouldn’t forget that Dimuth Karunaratne and his team defeated South Africa in South Africa in Tests and sealed the series 2-0. Thus, Sri Lanka became the first Asian team to win a Test series in South Africa.
History of him
Karunaratne’s full name is Dimuth Madushanka Karunaratne. He was born on April 21, 1988, Colombo. He is a left hand batsman and opening batsman of the team. Though mostly avoided bowling, his bowling style is right arm medium. The six foot Karunaratne’s alma mater is St. Joseph’s College, Colombo. He is, in fact, another alumnus of the College side that produced Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera, with whom he played in the Sri Lanka Under-19 side.
Karunaratne made his first class debut for Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) in 2008, but had a quiet first season, batting largely in the middle order. In 2009, he secured a place in the top order and began to score consistently. His maiden first-class century was against Colts Cricket Club, and in the season, he recorded of 1186 runs with an average of 56.54. Because of this form, he was called for the Sri Lanka A team against visiting South Africa A. There he made 184 runs against an attack that included Vernon Philander.
Big century maker
Right from the outset, Karunaratne has a reputation for making big centuries against good attacks. Speaking of his first class records, he made 13326 runs in 176 matches with an average of 46.43. There his number of centuries is 43 and highest score is 244. He made 58 half centuries in that as well. To get those runs he hit 1505 fours and 28 sixes.
Owing to these impressive records he was included in the Test tour to South Africa later in the year, but couldn’t get a game to play. In July 2012, he again toured South Africa with the A team, and impressed with scores of 83 and 150 not out on that tour. Soon after that, he was chosen for the Test team against New Zealand in Galle. He opened the innings alongside SSC partner Tharanga Paranavitana, replacing the injured Tillakaratne Dilshan. Beset with nervousness, he fell for a duck in his first Test innings. But then he made run-a-ball 60 in the second essay as Sri Lanka surged to a thumping 10-wicket win. So his debut Test was against New Zealand at Galle on November 17 - 19, 2012.
Maiden Test century
Karunaratne’s maiden Test century was recorded against New Zealand at the Hagley Oval on December 28, 2014, where he scored 152 off 363 balls in the second match. He stamped his authority at the top of the order ever since, first with a century against Pakistan and soon followed it up with a mammoth 186 against the touring West Indies. Though Sri Lanka recorded a historic 3-0 sweep against Australia, Karunaratne only got five single-digit scores in six innings. But he came back hard against Zimbabwe, and grabbed the Man of the Series.
In Sri Lanka’s first ever Day-Night Test, he notched up his career-best score of 196 against Pakistan in UAE in 2017, and became the first Sri Lankan to get to the landmarks of 50, 100 and 150 in a D/N Test. He played a stellar role in routing Pakistan and breaching their long unbeaten series record in the Middle-East. Thus, he ended 2017 as one of the highest run-getters in the year.
Other records
Karunaratne’s debut ODI was against England at Manchester on July 09, 2011, and last ODI was with West Indies at North Sound on March 14, 2021. He played 34 ODIs for Sri Lanka and recorded 767 runs with the average of 27.39 and his highest score was 97. His debut T20I was with Ireland at Colombo (SSC) on February 04, 2010.
Among his records he made seven fifties in consecutive innings, and in a Test match he recorded a Hundred and a duck. And in another Test he carrying bat through a completed innings (158*). At the moment Karunaratne is at the 5th place in the ICC Test ranking with 781 points which is the best so far after a decade. In this way, Dimuth Karunaratne is Sri Lanka’s current batting great after the era of Mahela–Sanga whom we should secure to overcome our present downfall.