Sri Lanka received a serious blow after their captain Angelo Mathews suffered a calf strain in his right leg while batting during the 4th ODI between Sri Lanka and Australia at Dambulla. Mathews is in serious doubt for the last ODI and the T20 series against the Aussies.
The all-rounder looked in serious pain after pushing a delivery of his backfoot running for a single on the 5th delivery of 27th over and barely managed to hobble down to the other end. The captain received some treatment immediately with strapping applied to the injured leg before padding up again.
Nevertheless, the all-rounder hobbled off the field soon after missing Scott Bolland’s 1st delivery of the following over. The play and miss were enough to make him realise that he wasn’t fit enough to continue.
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Mathews returned in the 48th over of the innings still in utmost discomfort. He got a massive applause from the crowd for his bravery and went on to hit a couple of boundaries during the last few overs. He was unable to run and only hobbled back to the other end when the ball went to the deep fielders. He was eventually dismissed in the last over of the innings giving John Hastings his 6th wicket. Mathews was carried off the field by the team physio and Amila Aponso.
"Unfortunately, he’s got a calf strain," stand-in skipper Dinesh Chandimal told the media after the match.
"So he’s going to have a CT scan tomorrow and the physio is going to tell us whether he can play or not. He is unlikely to play in this series, unfortunately." Chandimal added.
Mathew’s injury not only stalled a healthy partnership between him and Dhananjaya de Silva but also left the hosts without their opening bowler during Australia’s run chase.
In the three ODIs prior to this match, Mathews was impressive with the ball taking 4 wickets at an economy rate that was less than 4 runs per over. Earlier in 2012 Mathews had missed an extended period due to the issue with his right calf that left some serious doubts over his future as an all-rounder.
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"I don't think we can use Mathews as an allrounder in the future," Sri Lanka’s former chief selector Ashantha de Mel said at the time.
"Mathews has some problem with his legs and it is very unlikely he will bowl much. We have to look at him purely as a batsman."
Earlier in the day, Mathews was hit in the helmet as he took evasive action sending his neck guard flying. He was deemed fit to continue before the unfortunate calf strain halted his progress.
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