Sri Lanka summon Prasanna as Herath cover

Sydney: Sri Lanka have called-up Seekkuge Prasanna as World Cup cover for injured spinner Rangana Herath, the country’s cricket board announced on Tuesday.

“Seekkuge Prasanna will go to Australia as a stand by for injured Rangana Herath, who split his finger during the ENG v SL match #LionsRoar#lka,” tweeted Cricket Sri Lanka.

The 29-year-old Prasanna has played 22 ODIs since his 2011 debut. He was a member of the squad who faced New Zealand in a seven-game series on the eve of the World Cup but was not selected for the showpiece tournament.

The 36-year-old Herath needed four stitches in the spinning finger of his left hand after he tried to stop a full-blooded drive from England’s Jos Buttler in Wellington on Sunday.

Sri Lanka won the match by nine wickets and the 1996 champions are almost assured of a quarter-final spot with just two Pool A games left to play, against Australia in Sydney on Sunday and Scotland in Hobart three days later.