Karunaratne out of World Cup with broken finger

Sri Lanka batsman Dimuth Karunaratne has been ruled out of the World Cup after a fracturing the little finger on his left hand at practice in Sydney.

“Dimuth injured his hand during a fielding session and X-rays indicated a fracture just above the base of his left small finger,” Sri Lanka’s chairman of selectors Sanath Jayasuriya said.

“Dimuth has to undergo surgery and will be out for about four weeks. He will return home and we have requested the ICC technical committee to include leg-spinner Seekkuge Prasanna in the squad as his replacement.”

Prasanna was sent to Australia as cover for left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who had four stitches to his left index finger after hurting himself while trying to hold onto a difficult return catch from Jos Butler in Wellington. Herath is an uncertain starter for Sunday’s match against Australia in Sydney.

In addition to Prasanna, Sri Lanka hope to bolster their batting by flying in Kusal Perera from home. “We have only seven fit batsmen in the side and Kusal is being brought in as a precautionary measure,” Jayasuriya said.

Karunaratne is the fourth Sri Lankan player to be injured from the originally selected squad. Fast bowler Dhammika Prasad broke his hand two days out from their first warm-up fixture in the World Cup and allrounder Jeevan Mendis suffered a hamstring injury at training on February 24. -ESPN