(Cricket news) Sri Lankan test opener Dimuth Karunaratne has been the leading run scorer in Test matches this season. He has scored 896 runs in 7 matches and is currently playing in the 1st test against West Indies. Karunaratne is the third highest run getter this year as he is only 10 runs behind Rohit Sharma and 559 runs behind Joe Root who is the only batter to score more than 1000 runs in test matches this year. Joe Root has scored 1455 runs and will be wary of the Sri Lankan who can come close in the next few matches.

The 33 year old left hander is currently one of the best players to play the test format. He has shown great footwork against spin and does not always try to loft the ball but when he attacks it sure it works. Karunaratne made his test debut nine years ago, his growth over the years has been proven many times and this year he has been able to score runs especially at home.

Karunaratne has hit 4 centuries which is only second to Joe Root who has 6, Karunaratne has only played 12 innings as Root has played 23. The staggering average of 74.66 has kept him in the race for the leading run getter of the year in tests, no batter who has played more than 10 innings has an average above 70 and Root comes the closest as he averages 66.13.

Karunaratne also has the highest score of the year, he did it against Bangladesh in April when he scored 244 runs while batting for 11 hours and faced 437 balls. It was a slow paced knock but very much needed as Bangladesh had scored 541 in the first innings and the Lankans replied with a bigger score of 648. Although the match ended in a draw, it was a long knock and tested the bowlers very well especially for Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam who combined bowled a total of 103 overs. Karunaratne scored a century in the first innings and a half century in the second which gave them a strong lead. They went on to win the match as Bangladesh batters could not handle the Lankan bowlers led by debutant Praveen Jayawickrama who took 11 wickets in the match.

Karunaratne is the 9th highest run getter for the side in test matches, he has scored 5448 runs in 74 matches. He is only 52 runs away to become the 7th Sri Lankan to score more than 5500 runs in test matches, if he manages to score more than 54 runs he will be the 6th highest run getter for the country.

Also read: Abid Ali steals the show as Pakistan keeps up the winning streak in Bangladesh