Dimuth Karunaratne becomes 10th Sri Lanka batsman to cross 5,000 Test runs
Apr 29, 2021
Pallekele [Sri Lanka], April 29 : Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne on Friday became the 10th Lankan batsman to score 5,000 runs in the longest format of the game.
Karunaratne reached the glorious milestone during the ongoing second Test against Bangladesh. He is also the fourth fastest Sri Lanka cricketer to reach 5,000 Test runs in terms of matches played.
Karunaratne scored his 5,000th run in his 72nd Test and 138th innings. Former Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara is still the highest run-scorer for the country with 12,400 Test runs under his belt.
Mahela Jayawardene is second on the list having scored 11,814 runs in the longest format of the game. From the current lot, all-rounder Angelo Mathews features in the top 10 list having hit 6,219 runs -- he is at the fifth spot.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka openers Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne batted through the opening session and provided the host a steady start in the game.
Sri Lanka's score read 66/0 at lunch on the opening day with Karunaratne and Thirimanne both unbeaten on 32 runs.
Sri Lanka had won the toss and elected to bat first with both sides having debutants -- Praveen Jayawickrama and Shoriful Islam -- in the second Test.
The first Test between the two sides had ended in a draw on Sunday as batsman enjoyed a run fest.
On Wednesday, Ranjan Madugalle of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees rated the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium pitch in Kandy that was used for the first Test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as "below average" and the venue has received one demerit point under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process.
