Match winning century against New Zealand great source of confidence for me: Karunaratne

After scoring a match-winning century, Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne has said it is a great source of confidence for him.

Karunaratne smashed a century after over a year and said that it was his hunger which empowered him to hit a ton.

"I had gone through quite a few games without a hundred, and I was telling the team that as well - that I haven't scored a hundred in a while, and that I've got to somehow do it in this game. I had that hunger. I try to go for those big scores as much as I can. When I get the opportunity, I really push for that," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Karunaratne as saying.

 

"In South Africa, New Zealand and Australia tours I couldn't quite get there, though I came close a few times. So when I got a chance here, in Sri Lanka, I made it happen. That's a great source of confidence for me - to hit a hundred on a tough wicket like this," he added.

Karunaratne played a knock of 122 runs during the final inning of the first Test match against New Zealand to help his side register a six-wicket victory over the Kiwis.

Karunaratne said that he had a positive approach to his inning and had made a plan beforehand that whoever gets a start needed to go big.

"I had a positive approach to this innings. We were watching the batsmen that did make runs, and we noted how they went about it. After the ball became a bit softer it became easier to bat, and then it was a case of using your feet to the spinners. We had a plan to do that, and we knew that whoever got a start needed to go big," Karunaratne said.

The second Test between Sri Lanka and New Zealand will start on August 22.