"We’re about equal"- Dimuth Karunaratne feels Sri Lanka's bowling is on par with South Africa

Sri Lankan skipper Dimuth Karunaratne is confident of his fast bowling contingent putting up a fight in South Africa during the upcoming two-match Test series against South Africa.

Karunaratne felt his bowlers have the pace and bounce to exploit the conditions in Centurion and Wanderers. The Sri Lankan captain said -

''We’re going to need the fast bowlers at Centurion and Wanderers. Last time we came to South Africa we didn’t have many options – Lahiru Kumara and Dushmantha Chameera weren’t here.''

“This time, we do have that strength, and we will need it if the opposition thinks that we don’t have a lot of pace or bounce in our team, that emboldens them to use their conditions even more against us. But on this tour, we have fast bowlers, and if you look at pace, we’re about equal. I think the batsmen will be the difference. Whoever is the better batting side has a good chance of winning the series.” Dimuth Karunaratne added.

The upcoming Boxing Day Test will be Sri Lanka's first international game since the Covid-19 break. The island nation was set to play England in March at home, but that series was called off due to the pandemic.

Notably, Dimuth Karunaratne's Sri Lankan team became the first Asian outfit to win a Test series in South Africa when they whitewashed the hosts 2-0 in 2019.

Sri Lanka Team engaged in practices at the Centurian Park ahead of its 1st Test vs South Africa. How excited are you for the #SAvSL series? pic.twitter.com/EV3APbSoak

— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) December 21, 2020

Dimuth Karunaratne slightly nervous about his batting

Sri Lanka Test Squad for South Africa and England series 🏏🤩 https://t.co/3AdTe0m6NX#SAvSL #SLvENG pic.twitter.com/YOalXYvB16

— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) December 17, 2020

The 32-year-old also shed light on his batting, and spoke about how his injury has hampered his chances of practicing a lot more than what he has so far.

''I haven’t been able to play much at all this year, partly because I had an injury for part of it. I’m feeling a little nervous about playing again, but I’m sure everyone is. Starting in Centurion is a big challenge, and once we got here, we realised how hard it will be. But we’ve trained hard, and everyone’s put in a lot of effort to adapt.'' Dimuth Karunaratne said.

The first Test between hosts South Africa and the visitors, Sri Lanka, is slated to begin on December 26 at Centurion. With an important start the key in seaming conditions, Dimuth Karunaratne's role at the top of the order will be in focus right from the first Test match.