Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva has rued the lack of runs from his batting unit in the ongoing England tour. However, Sri Lanka have struggled to score big in the first innings in both Tests and as a result, they lost. The visitors have gone past 300 only once with the frontline batters repeatedly failing to do well.

“Our batters have to score runs, and that’s the biggest issue we’ve had, ” Dhananjaya said. “Those who got starts didn’t turn them into hundreds and 150s. If you look at Joe Root on their side, he’s consistently made runs and it’s around him that others made runs. That’s what someone on our side needs to do as well, so we can get to 300 or 350. First-innings runs are what’s crucial to victory.”

The England pace attack hardly conceding loose deliveries is something Sri Lanka’s batters have to work on to succeed, according to Dhananjaya. However, Dhananjaya has shown some fight by scoring a fifty in both the Tests but the positive of this series has been Kamindu Mendis. He has already hit three fifties and three centuries in five Tests so far.

“They (England) have a lot of control in addition to their experience,” he shared. “They have great control of line and length and we don’t get many loose balls in England. We need to be prepared for that and our plans have to take that into account. That’s just what you get in England. In the two previous matches they didn’t let us execute our plans. That’s why they were successful.”

“I think if Kamindu plays well down there there’s no reason to change what he’s doing and put him in trouble,” he said. “If he’s scoring there, it’s good for his career as well. In the future, maybe we will talk to him, about his plans as well and see what changes we can make. But right now we’re thinking of him as a No. 7,” Dhananjaya de Silva concluded.