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Cricket World Player of the Week - Dimuth Karunaratne

©CWM

Sri Lanka ended up winning the 1st Test match against West Indies by 187 runs. SL captain Karunaratne, himself, scored 230 runs in the match.

When Roston Chase ran through the Sri Lankan middle order in the first Test match between Sri Lanka and West Indies at the Galle International Stadium, there was a sense of hope for West Indies. However, one man kept denying them that opportunity time and again.

Sri Lankan Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne has been in great form of late and has finished as the top run-scorer for Sri Lanka in Tests more often than not. His 139-run partnership in the first innings of the first Test with Pathum Nissanka set the platform for Sri Lanka, a place from which West Indies could never fight back.

The game was sort of evenly poised in the second innings but West Indies met their nemesis Karunaratne once again as he scored 83 off 104 deliveries to set West Indies an almost unchasable target.

Sri Lanka ended up winning the match by 187 runs. Karunaratne by himself scored 230 runs in the match. If his contribution is taken away, the result of the match could have been very different.

The contribution becomes all the more special given that Karunaratne was completely out of match practice and hadn't even played club cricket recently. Moreover, the heavy rains over the last couple of months in the island nation had left some moisture in the surface which made batting even harder.

Karunaratne was rightfully awarded the Player of the Match as he saw his team to a well-earned Test victory at home.