Mathews in doubt with calf injury

Sri Lanka have been dealt a significant blow with captain Angelo Mathews in serious doubt for the fifth one-day international and two Twenty20 internationals against Australia after suffering a suspected right calf strain during the home side’s innings in Dambulla last night.

Mathews pulled up short after pushing off his back foot running for a single on the fifth delivery of the 27^th over, gingerly making his way to the non-striker’s end.

The key allrounder received some treatment with strapping applied to the injured limb, before padding up once again and soldiering on with his score on 28.

However, the skipper hobbled off soon after, a play-and-miss off Scott Boland off the first ball of the following over was enough to convince Mathews he was unfit to continue with the score at 3-115 after 27.1 overs.

Mathews bravely returned to the middle in the 48th over of the innings to a warm response from the growing home crowd.

It was a classic stand-and-deliver effort from Mathews, blasting a couple of boundaries in between the occasional hobble between the wickets as the injury clearly inhibited any great movement.

Mathews eventually fell on the final ball of the innings to hand John Hastings his sixth wicket and was helped from the field after his knock of 40 helped Sri Lanka post 212.

"Unfortunately he’s got a calf strain," stand-in skipper Dinesh Chandimal told media after play.

"So he’s going to have a CT scan tomorrow and the physio is going to tell us whether he can play or not.

"He is unlikely to play in this series, unfortunately."

His injury marked significant moment in the contest as Australia wrapped up the series ahead of the final match at Pallekele Stadium on Sunday.

Not only did his initial forced retirement put an end to the vital 84-run stand with opener Dhananjaya de Silva, but is also left the hosts without their opening bowler for Australia's run chase.

In the three ODIs prior to tonight’s clash, Mathews had claimed four wickets while conceding just four runs an over with his clever medium pace.

Mathews missed an extended period of time in 2012 due to an issue with his right calf that led some to doubt his future as an allrounder.

"I don't think we can use Mathews as an allrounder in the future," Sri Lanka’s former chief selector Ashantha de Mel said at the time.

"Mathews has some problem with his legs and it is very unlikely he will bowl much. We have to look at him purely as a batsman."

Things didn’t get much better for Sri Lanka when de Silva skied a delivery from John Hastings in the very next over to depart for a well-made 76 off 85 balls.

It was an eventful innings for Mathews during his 58-ball stay, following another scary moment against Boland earlier in the afternoon.

The Victorian seamer – making his return to action after fracturing his hand during the Australia A tour three weeks ago – unleashed a bouncer that Mathews, on 2, was unable to negotiate.

The ball crashed into Mathews’ helmet as he took evasive action, sending his neck-guard flying.

A short delay followed, but Mathews was deemed fit to continue until the unfortunate leg injury.