By Caroline Chekorir

Wanindu Hasaranga will not play in the upcoming ODIs against New Zealand. The Sri Lanka leg spinner sustained a left hamstring injury when he bowled in the second T20I in Dambulla. Following his injury, he has returned to Colombo and has started his rehabilitation process at the High-Performance Center. He had also previously suffered from hamstring injury, which made him missed the entire series against India in August.

“Wanindu Hasaranga will miss the ODI series, but I think Kusal Mendis will be ready to play one day,” Charith Asalanka said at the post-match press conference ahead of the New Zealand ODIs.

He performed exceptionally well in spite of the difficulties he encountered. He picked up four wickets for just 17 runs in his four overs, and this reduced New Zealand to 52/6 in the 10.3 overs. In the first T20I series, he claimed two wickets only for 20 runs, and he demonstrated his passion and skills for cricket. He was the lead wicket taker of the series, as his total wickets of the series were six, which he picked at a strike rate of 4.62.

Hasaranga was replaced in the ODI team for the next series by Dushan Hemantha. In five ODIs, Hemantha has taken two wickets at an economy rate of 5.51.

Sri Lanka had won the first match of the T20I by four wickets, and captain Charith Asalanka was named the player of the match thanks to his undefeated 35. In the second, New Zealand won by five runs; the win was thanks to Lockie Ferguson hat trick. The series was leveled by 1-1. Wanindu Hasaranga was named the player of the series.

“Full credit goes to New Zealand, undone by good bowling and good fielding. We could have batted a little bit better. Only today we struggled against spin; basically, we are playing spin well. We have to get the right options on these tracks,” said the Sri Lanka captain in the post-match ceremony.

“Finally, I can have a few weeks break after this match. I think it’s bad. I wanted to bowl my four overs to cut down their total. I can’t run, so I tried to maximize with the bat, but I got out. I wanted to bowl the stumps’ line with the 5-meter length; I tried to do my basic things,” said the player of the series at the post-match ceremony.

The opening ODI in the forthcoming series is set for November 13 at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, while the final two games will take place at Pallekele on November 17 and 19.