The cricketing world was left in a shock when the Sri Lankan opener Dimuth Karunaratne was hit on the back of the neck by a Pat Cummins bouncer. Cummins’ delivery caught the batsman off guard and saw him attempt to get out of the way of the rising ball. But his attempts were in vain as the ball smashed in between his shoulder and neck guard at a thunderous pace of 142.5 km/h. At the first glimpse, it looked that ball was struck on his shoulder first, but the replays later confirmed that the ball had struck him on the back of the neck, right under the helmet.
Karunaratne immediately fell on the field and soon all the players rushed in to check him. The doctors of the Australian team came out immediately to attend the batsman. After spending a few minutes, the trainers called for the stretcher as concerns around the ground began to grow. He was soon taken to a nearby hospital for scans by an ambulance. Earlier there were no words on his condition but with the passage of time, the things looked a bit ok.
Watch – Dimuth Karunaratne rushed off the ground after a Cummins bouncer hit him
Now, Sri Lankan coach Chandika Hathurusingha cleared the dark clouds over his health and mentioned that Karunaratne was “in good spirit” and in “no danger”.
“It was a bit scary at the start the way he fell back, but he was okay throughout, he was talking to the umpires and the physio. It hit on the back of the neck so he is being assessed,” coach quoted after the end of second day’s play.
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Australia dominated the second straight day in the Canberra Test. Riding on centuries from Joe Burns, Travis Head and Kurtis Patterson Australia declared their innings for 534/5. The Sri Lankan openers were looking solid until the unfortunate incident took place and Karunaratne, batting on 46, had to leave the field. Australian bowlers sensed an opportunity and took three wickets in no time. At the stumps, the scorecard reads 123 for 3 and they are still 411 runs behind the hosts.
