Sri Lanka have made two changes as they hope to notch a consolation win in the 3rd and final Test against England, beginning at The Oval on September 6. The tourists have dropped the lone frontline spinner in Prabath Jayasuriya alongside the opener Nishan Madushka. Instead, they have drafted in Kusal Mendis and Vishwa Fernando in the playing XI.
Madushka, who opened the innings in the opening two Tests, passed a single-figure score only once with a highest of 13. Hence, Nissanka is likely to open the innings. Jayasuriya, the off-spinner, has snared eight wickets in the first two Tests, but proved to be a touch expensive at Lord's. Right-arm pacer Fernando was inconsistent with his line and length in the first two Tests and will hope to do well after being recalled.
Sri Lanka playing XI: Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Kamindu Mendis, Milan Rathnayake, Lahiru Kumara, Vishwa Fernando, Asitha Fernando.
"We really need to minimise the runs he's scoring" - Dimuth Karunaratne on Joe Root
Ex-captain and senior batter Dimuth Karunaratne addressed Sri Lanka's inability to dismiss Joe Root cheaply, suggesting that the Yorkshire has been a thorn in their way for quite some time. Karunaratne admitted that Root has had answers to all their tactics thus far, saying, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo:
"We've tried a few things against Joe but they were always unsuccessful. I think the turning points in the matches have been those Joe Root innings. Even when we've played at Galle, he's hit big runs, but the batters around him haven't scored as heavily. We really need to minimise the runs he's scoring. We need to look at his past performances more closely, see where he's got out, and what kinds of things we can do on these pitches. We need to make a new plan based on that."
