The Sri Lankan pacer Kasun Rajitha has been ruled out of the second Test match after injuring his back while playing in the first test of Sri Lanka’s tour of Bangladesh 2024.
Kasun Rajitha Ruled Out of Second Test
The 26-year-old Asitha Fernando was named as the replacement for injured Kasun Rajitha who suffered injury in the first test. Asitha Fernando has featured in 13 tests for Sri Lanka and has picked up 41 wickets with his best bowling returns of 6/51.
He will be joining the squad as Rajith travels back home. “Kasun Rajitha will not be available for the second Test match as the player has suffered an injury to his left upper back area,” said SLC in a statement.
🚨 #SLvsBAN: Team Updates 🚨
Kasun Rajitha will not be available for the second test match as the player has suffered an injury to his left upper back area.
Asitha Fernando joined the squad as a replacement for Rajitha.
Kasun will return home to start rehabilitation work. pic.twitter.com/3LsfdvofEN
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) March 27, 2024
Rajitha grabbed eight wickets in the opening test against Bangladesh at Sylhet and played a key role in their win by picking five wickets in the second innings to help them win by a 328-run difference.
Batting first, Sri Lanka lost all 10 wickets scoring 280 runs. With the complete collapse of the top order and few wickets in the middle order, Dhanajaya and Kamindu joined partnerships to balance the side in the scorecard. Kusal Mendis scored only 16 runs in the first innings.
Sri Lanka lost 5 wickets for 57 runs and the partnership for 6 wickets went for 201 runs. Khaled Ahmed was the reason for the collapse in Sri Lanka’s top order picking three wickets while Nahid Rana picked up three wickets in the middle order to help the side end the visitor’s innings quickly.
With a trail of 280 runs, Bangladesh started their innings where Taijul Islam was the highest scorer for the hosts smashing 47 runs. Vishwa Fernando created havoc in Bangladesh’s batting lineup while Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara completely wiped up the middle order.
Finally, Bangladesh concluded their innings by scoring 188 runs losing all 10 wickets. Sri Lanka’s second innings was impressive as they posted a score of 418 runs. With karunaratne’s 52 runs, Sri Lanka had a good start, but Bangladesh managed to bag a few wickets in the middle order.
Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis have smashed a century each again in their second innings. Silva smashed 108 runs while Kamindu Mendis scored 164 runs on 237 deliveries.
Despite Mehidy Hasan Miraz bagging four wickets, their side failed to contain Sri Lanka scoring runs. Bangladesh scored only 182 runs in their second innings and lost the match by 328 runs.
The second match of the test series will be played between March 30 and April 03 at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.
