5 promising signs for Sri Lanka despite a miserable series against India

#3 The batsmen showed glimpses of brilliance

Kusal Mendis

On a whole, the Sri Lankan batting was very disappointing in all formats. They capitulated to the spinners in the test matches. Throughout the ODI series and the one-off T20, they lost a flurry of wickets, completely causing a break in momentum.

Amidst all this, they could cherish the hundreds scored by Kusal Mendis and Dimuth Karunaratne in tests and the overall consistency and courage shown by Niroshan Dickwella.

The pillars around which their batting revolved around, Angelo Mathews, Upul Tharanga and Dinesh Chandimal, were abysmal barring a gritty fifty from Mathews in the fourth ODI. It was a complete let down by Sri Lanka’s strongest batsmen.

Kusal Mendis showed signs of why he’s rated highly and Karunaratne showed some fight and together they pushed the Indian bowlers a lot, which is a good sign.

In the ODI where Mathews and Tharanga didn’t show up, Lahiru Thirimanne showed that he has still got it in him. His impressive showing in the ODIs gives the team some positivity heading into their upcoming tours.

Asela Gunaratne, their all-rounder who has been a surprise wicket-taker along with scoring some quick runs down the order, was missing in action due to an injury. As his replacement, Milinda Siriwardana proved to be a good bowling option and added some valuable runs as well.