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Sri Lanka opener Dimuth Karunaratne bid goodbye to Test cricket on February 9. In his farewell Test, Sri Lanka lost by nine wickets at Galle International Stadium. The 36-year-old in his farwell speech got emotional and said that he could not complete the second half of his goal, to score 10,000 Test runs.
"Yes I am (emotional). It's a long career. I was spending so much time with my friends, so I'm emotional leaving them. But wherever I go, I will always be supporting them. When I started to play Test cricket, that was my one goal to play 100 Tests and scoring 10000 runs. I'm happy the way I am today. Want to thank everyone who supported me in my career," Karunaratne told the broadcasters after the series defeat.
Karunaratne also revealed that he is going to Australia. He thanked his family, teammates and fans for supporting him.
"Going to Australia now to learn those coaching levels. Want to stay with my family - have missed spending a lot of time with them. Would like to thank all the fans who supported me whether I was doing well or not. My teammates - happy faces all the time. This is cricket - you have to go one day. This is the time for me," the opening batter added.
Karunaratne scores 50 runs in farewell Test
Karunaratne could not finish his Test career on a high. In the first innings, he got off to a good start but was deceived by a straighter delivery from Nathan Lyon. He scored 36 runs from 83 balls. Sri Lanka ended up getting bowled out for 257. In the second innings, Karunaratne departed early. He scored 14 runs from 28 balls and got caught behind off left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann.
Karunaratne's Test statistics
The Colombo batter retired with 7,222 runs from 100 Tests at an average of 39.25 including 16 centuries and 39 half-centuries. He is Sri Lanka's fourth-highest run-scorer of all time in the format. The first spot is occupied by Kumar Sangakkara (12,400 runs) followed by Mahela Jayawardene (11,814 runs) and Angelo Mathews (8,167 runs).
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