Watch: Chamika Karunaratne loses four teeth while taking a catch in Lanka Premier League 2022

The Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2022 kicked off on December 6, Tuesday and the tournament is turning out to be a great one, given that the Sri Lankan players are giving it their all in the epic tournament. As things stand, Kandy Falcons faced off against Galle Gladiators and it was the former who came out on top on the back of a stupendous innings from Kamindu Mendis.

However, what caught the eye of the fans was the dismissal of Nuwanidu Fernando. To add more, it was Carlos Brathwaite who rattled the batter and eventually Chamika Karunaratne caught it off. However, the catch did not come easily as the ball directly hit Karunaratne’s mouth, leaving him in pain. Eventually, the cricketer managed to complete the catch and send Fernando back to the dressing room. 

Watch Chamika Karunaratne’s catch here:

The foreign players are doing a good job: Wanindu Hasaranga

To comment on the match, it was the Gladiators who batted first and put on a meagre total of 121 runs on the board at the end of the first innings. It was a heartbreaking batting display as the likes of Kusal Mendis, Thanuka Dabare, Azam Khan (wk) and Ifthikhar Ahmed perished in quick successions. 

Concerning the chase, the Falcons were all over the team and breached the target within 15 overs on the back of Kamindu’s quickfire 44. On the other hand, it was the allrounder from West Indies, Brathwaite who stood up for the Falcons earlier in the first innings and picked up a four-for to restrict the Gladiators to a meagre total. 

Wanindu Hasaranga, the captain of Falcons, said that the overseas players are doing the job for the team and hoped to carry on with the momentum in the games to come as well. Expressing his delight to play in front of the home crowd in the next match, Hasaranga said that the team receives warm welcome from the home crowd time and time again. 

“The foreign players are doing a good job. We have an experienced side and that’s why we are doing a fine job. We have good bench strength as well. We are going with a balanced side. We are going to our home (Kandy), we’ll get good support from our fans,” Hasaranga was quoted as saying.