SL drops failed Mendis from Test squad

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Tuesday dropped out-of-form Kusal Mendis from an upcoming second Test against England while injured skipper Dimuth Karunaratne was replaced by stand-in Dinesh Chandimal.

The cricket board said Mendis and Karunaratne were among a total of five players left out of the squad for the second Test against England starting Friday at Galle.

Mendis was out for a duck in the first innings and scored 15 in the second.

In last month’s South Africa tour, he scored ducks in both innings of the second Test.

He scored 12 in the first innings of the first Test, but got out for a duck in the second innings.

“In the absence of Karunaratne, Chandimal will continue to captain the team in the 2nd test match, as well,” the board said in a statement, without giving details of the skipper’s injuries.

Karunaratne was named captain for the first Test, but he stayed out of the match which Sri Lanka lost by seven wickets.

The other three players dropped from the squad are Minod Bhanuka, Lahiru Kumara and Nuwan Pradeep. None of them had played in the first Test.