Dhananjaya de Silva urges Sri Lanka batters to take up more responsibility

Sri Lanka batters have struggled throughout the Test series against England and skipper Dhananjaya de Silva has urged them to take on more responsibility. Sri Lanka have crossed 300 just once in the series so far, and de Silva puts that down to batters who have got starts but have not made it big.

"Our batters have to score runs, and that's the biggest issue we've had," de Silva said ahead of the third Test at the Oval.

"Those who got starts didn't turn them into hundreds and 150s. If you look at Joe Root on their side, he's consistently made runs and it's around him that others made runs. That's what someone on our side needs to do as well so we can get to 300 or 350. First-innings runs are crucial to victory."

De Silva, however, credited the England bowlers for keeping things tight, thereby making it difficult for his batters to put them away.

"They [England] have a lot of control in addition to their experience," he observed. 

"They have great control of line and length and we don't get many loose balls in England. We need to be prepared for that and our plans have to take that into account. That's just what you get in England. In the two previous matches, they didn't let us execute our plans. That's why they were successful."

Kamindu Mendis has been Sri Lanka's best batter in the series so far. He started off the series with a superb ton at Old Trafford, and in the second Test at Lord's, he slammed another eye-catching 74. Despite his good showing, de Silva is not tempted to promote the southpaw up the order.

"I think if Kamindu plays well down there, there's no reason to change what he's doing and put him in trouble," de Silva, who has scored a couple of fifties in the series already, said.

"If he's scoring there, it's good for his career as well. In the future, maybe we will talk to him about his plans as well and see what changes we can make. But right now we're thinking of him as a No. 7."

Sri Lanka have made a couple of changes for the final Test. Kusal Mendis and Vishwa Fernando return to the XI in place of Nishan Madushka and Prabath Jayasuriya. England, on the other hand, have made just the one change as 20-year-old Josh Hull comes in for Matthew Potts. 

England have already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series after winning the first Test in Manchester by five wickets and second Test at Lord's by 190 runs. 

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