Sri Lanka fast bowler Lahiru Kumara has been ruled out of the rest of their campaign in the World Cup Qualifiers after he suffered a side strain during their win against Netherlands. He could only complete two overs in the match before being forced off the field.
Sri Lanka have named uncapped Sahan Arachchige as Kumara's replacement. The 27-year-old left-hand batter, who also bowls offspin, was among the three of Sri Lanka's standby players for the tournament. Arachchige has played 66 List A games, scoring 1454 runs at an average of 29.07.
Sri Lanka had already called up Dilshan Madushanka in place of the injured Dushmantha Chameera in the squad. Chameera suffered a shoulder injury in training before the start of the tournament and only played in the warm-up games and was eventually replaced before the Super Six stage started.
With West Indies out of contention, Sri Lanka are best placed among the five teams that are vying for the last two spots in the 2023 World Cup in India starting October 5.
Sri Lanka have won all five of their games in the tournament so far. They now take on Zimbabwe on July 2 and West Indies on July 7. The top two teams on the Super Six points table move on to the World Cup proper.
Hasaranga reprimanded by ICC
Wanindu Hasaranga has been handed one demerit point for a Level 1 breach of the ICC code of conduct. This incident also occurred during the match against Netherlands when, upon being dismissed, he "hit the boundary skirtings with his bat in an aggressive manner"
This was in violation of Article 2.2 of the ICC code which relates to "abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an International Match." Hasaranga admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by the match referee.