Captain Dimuth Karunaratne is backing Sri Lanka’s batting order to improve, come Friday’s World Cup match against Pakistan in Bristol.

Sri Lanka slipped to 137 all out in defeat to New Zealand at the start of the tournament – and earlier this week collapsed from 92 without loss to 201 all out against Afghanistan. They will play Pakistan in Bristol on Friday.

‘I believe this is the best batting order we have. I’ve played a lot with Kusal Perera, I have faith in him. Lahiru Thirimanne is a reliable player who can pace his innings. The middle order is okay,’ said Karunaratne.

‘Angelo Mathews is a player with a lot of experience, and this sort of thing happen to players however good you are. But with their experience, once they get going, you cannot stop them from scoring runs. I have plenty of faith in them and I think they will perform well against Pakistan.’

Middle-order batsman Kusal Mendis performed well against South Africa earlier this year – and impressed against the same opposition and Australia in May’s World Cup warm-up matches. This month, though, has seen him fall for zero and two against New Zealand and Afghanistan respectively.

‘Our middle order comprises players who have experienced this type of situation before. Mendis scored well in the practice games, and also in the South African series, and failing in two matches I don’t think it has anything to do with his talent, he only needs a start to get going,’ added Karunaratne.

Photo: Getty Images