Mathews dispels injury fears at solid nets session
He suffered from cramps at the end of the last game. However, he has recovered. He bowled and batted well in the nets. ASANKA GURUSINHA, On Mathews
VISAKHAPATNAM: It can be safely said that Sri Lanka have been no match for India in the last three years. They have lost 11 out of 13 encounters against India, including two 5-0 whitewashes. In the current series, after registering a win in Dharamsala, the visitors were blown away by Rohit Sharma’s double ton in Mohali.
The inexperienced line-up has pinned their hopes on Angelo Mathews, who gave Sri Lanka something to smile by registering his second ODI ton, albeit in a losing cause. However, there was some concern towards the end of the innings as Mathews struggled to run and looked in pain. Heading into the deciding ODI, there were fears that Mathews could be facing a fitness problem.
PRACTISING HARD
All those doubts though were dispelled during the team’s optional practice session on Friday at the ADA-VDCA stadium. The allrounder bowled on the practice pitches for 15-20 minutes. After the brief session, Mathews headed out into the training nets outside and had a solid 40-minute batting session.
Asked whether Mathews was fit for the third ODI, Sri Lanka team manager Asanka Gurusinha said, “Mathews is fit. He suffered from cramps at the end of the last game. However, he has recovered. He bowled and batted well in the nets.”
Thilan Samaraweera, the batting coach, said Sri Lanka have a plan to preserve Mathews so that he does not get too injury-prone. “The strategy is that he will not bowl more than five overs. We are bringing him back to full strength slowly. We are not expecting 10 overs from him. At the most we are expecting maybe two spells,” Samaraweera said.
In the last couple of years, Mathews has been the key batsmen for Sri Lanka against India. In 2014-15, Mathews scored 339 runs at an average of 113, which also included his first century. In the 2017 series at home, the former skipper scored 192 runs with an average of 48 while in the ongoing series, he has remained unbeaten in both games.