Dimuth Karunaratne to play for Hampshire

Hampshire have signed Sri Lankan opener Dimuth Karunaratne for the first half of the 2019 season as their overseas player.

Karunaratne will feature in both the County Championship and the One-Day competition during his stay. Karunaratne said It has always been my dream to play in the County Championship and I couldn't be happier for it to be at a County like Hampshire.

I am looking forward to continue building on the success from 2018 by playing an important role in Hampshire's future

No opener in Test cricket has scored more runs than Karunaratne since the start of 2017.

In 60 Test matches, the Sri Lankan left-hander has scored more than 4000 runs including eight hundreds. Most recently, he was named the skipper of the Test side and under his leadership, Sri Lanka became the first Asian side to clinch a Test series on South African soil.

The 30-year-old will also look at this stint as an opportunity to prove his white-ball credentials.

He has played just 17 ODI matches for Sri Lanka averaging a meagre 15 in the format with his most recent appearance coming almost four years ago..

Source : News Radio