Hamstring injury rules Kusal Perera out of England ODIs

Players participating in the Sri Lanka-England series have been plagued by injuries and the latest addition to the club is Sri Lanka’s Kusal Perera. After Liam Dawson was ruled out of the remainder of the series with side strain, left-handed Perera will miss out on the three ODIs with a hamstring injury. Sadeera Samarawickrama has been named his replacement.

This is the second time a hamstring injury has cut short Perera’s series. Against India during the 2017 Champions Trophy, the batsman was forced to retire hurt. Earlier this year in West Indies, Perera had another close encounter with a serious injury.

During the third day of the third Test in Barbados, he had hurt himself while attempting a catch at the long-on boundary when he crashed into the advertising hoardings and was taken off the field in an ambulance. Despite the collision, Sri Lankan team manager Asanka Gurusinha had cleared him on any serious injury.

Perera’s absence is a blow for Sri Lanka who are trailing 0-1 in the five-match ODI series. After Sri Lanka did not get a chance to bat in the first match, Perera scored 30 in the second ODI as Sri Lanka lost the match by 31 runs (D/L method), finishing at 140 for 5 in 29 overs in pursuit of 279, before rain washed the remainder of the play.

Samarawickrama is young into his career and has played just three ODIs scoring 42 runs.