Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh: Dimuth Karunaratne says hosts hope to give Nuwan Kulasekara good send-off in third ODI

As Sri Lanka and Bangladesh get ready to lock horns in the final ODI of the three-match series, Lankan skipper Dimuth Karunaratne said they are hopeful of giving their retired pacer Nuwan Kulasekara ‘a good send-off’. “Yes, we hope to give him (Kulasekara) a good send-off, but we go into every game hoping to win. That said, just because we’re looking to win doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t give some of the younger players a chance,” International Cricket Council (ICC) quoted Karunaratne as saying. [caption id=“attachment_7086581” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Dimuth Karunaratne. Reuters[/caption] Sri Lanka already hold a 2-0 unassailable lead in the three-match series. Sri Lankan Cricket on Monday had announced that they would be dedicating the final ODI to Kulasekara. The board will be holding a felicitation ceremony to honour the bowler for his services towards the sport in the country. The 37-year-old has 199 scalps in 184 ODI matches. He featured in 58 T20Is and bagged 66 wickets. Kulasekara had made his ODI debut against England in 2003. He played his last ODI against Zimbabwe at Hambantota in 2017. In 21 Test matches, he has 48 wickets under his name. He was also the top-ranked bowler in the ICC ODI rankings in 2009. Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga also retired from ODI cricket last week and he was given a perfect send-off in the first ODI of the three-match series. Karunaratne lauded Sri Lankan bowlers for displaying good bowling performance in the second ODI as the side was without the services of Malinga. “In the last match without Malinga, I think Nuwan Pradeep, Lahiru Kumara and all the guys, they bowled really well. That’s what we want, once the seniors leave the rest of the guys have to take their responsibility and do the job. I think we were in the right track, we built some confidence step by step,” Karunaratne said. As the series has already been won by Sri Lanka, the skipper said that the team would be giving youngsters a chance to play in the final ODI of the three-match series. “Definitely there will be some chances for the youngsters. When the series started I said that we needed to give young players some chances in order to get them properly prepared for the next World Cup. As such, we’re going to be looking at how best to include them, while at the same time keeping in place the best combination to win the match. There won’t be a lot of changes, but I expect there will be two or three,” he added. Sri Lanka will face Bangladesh in the final ODI in Colombo.