Pathirana had sustained a shoulder injury during Sri Lanka's match against Pakistan, and the 20-year-old did not play in the subsequent games against Australia and Netherlands
Angelo Mathews. Pic/AFP
Veteran all-rounder Angelo Mathews on Tuesday replaced injured pacer Matheesha Pathirana in Sri Lanka's ICC World Cup 2023 squad ahead of their match against England here on Thursday.
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Pathirana had sustained a shoulder injury during Sri Lanka's match against Pakistan, and the 20-year-old did not play in the subsequent games against Australia and Netherlands.
This is the fourth World Cup of Mathews since the 2011 edition, and the 36-year-old has played 221 ODIs for Sri Lanka. He has scored 5865 runs with three hundreds and 40 fifties and also has taken 120 wickets in the format.
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Sri Lanka had recalled him as a travelling reserve last week along with pacer Dushmantha Chameera after he was sidelined in their original World Cup squad.
Pathirana is the second Lankan player to be ruled out of the World Cup after captain Dasun Shanaka flew back home with a quadriceps tear, an injury that warranted at least three weeks of recovery time.
Chamika Karunaratne was named as Shanaka's replacement. Kusal Mendis has stepped in as Lankan captain in place of Shanaka.
Mathews' inclusion looks like a serious brain fade as Sri Lanka's main headache is their stingless bowling. They have conceded 428 against SA, 345 against Pakistan and 215 in 35.2 overs against Australia.
The Lankan bowlers had reduced the Dutch to 91 for 6, but were generous enough to allow them to reach 262. In that context, they might be worried about offering a fresh lease of life to the misfiring England batters here.
However, there is a small sliver of light for Sri Lanka in the form of their top order batters, including Sadeera Samarawickrama, Kusal Mendis, the two century-makers, Pathum Nissanka and Charith Asalanka.
(With agency inputs)
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