Dimuth leaves for UK to make English county debut

 Sri Lanka Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne left in the early hours of yesterday morning to the UK to represent Yorkshire in the ongoing English County Championships.

Dimuth Karunaratne is ready to take off to the UK for his county debut

Karunaratne was forced to miss Yorkshire’s opening game against Gloucestershire at Bristol which the county won by six wickets due to a delay in obtaining his visa.

The left-handed opener will make his county debut on 21 April in Yorkshire’s second game against Northamptonshire at Northampton.

 Karunaratne is due to play three matches for Yorkshire in the first half of the season before returning home to lead his country in the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh, Australia, and Pakistan. He will return to play in Yorkshire’s last four matches of the season in September.

Karunaratne is currently the number five ranked Test batsman in the world and has enjoyed a prolific run of form in recent months with five centuries in his last eight Tests which includes a career-best 244 against Bangladesh at Pallekele in April last year. He looks to form a left-handed opening partnership with Adam Lyth in the Yorkshire batting line-up.

Yorkshire’s Interim Director of cricket and former England fast bowler Darren Gough said: “We are delighted that Dimuth will be joining us for the next three Championship games. He has proved himself to be an exceptional leader for Sri Lanka and is a tremendous Test-match batter. It can only benefit the lads in our changing rooms to have a player of his quality. I am sure they will all get a lot from it. I am confident he will contribute runs and enjoy his time at Yorkshire.” – (ST)