Apart from suffering an innings and 45 runs defeat in the first Test against South Africa at Centurion, Sri Lanka were bogged down by injuries and as a result, the visitors could head into the second Test without several key players.

Despite the setback, Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne reckons his side could still prove competitive when the match gets underway in Johannesburg on Sunday (January 3).

“We don’t have our best XI but we have some very good youngsters who have done well in domestic competition and can make the step up,” Karunaratne told a news conference on the eve of the second Test.

“I feel the youngsters will do their best. I believe we can do it and we have a good chance to win.”

Muscle strains hit the team heavily in the opening Test with Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kasun Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara sustaining serious injury to be ruled out of the second game.

Furthermore, pacer Suranga Lakmal will have to pass a late fitness test to be a part of the playing XI.

Despite posting 396 runs in the first innings, Sri Lanka lost the Centurion Test and Karunaratne felt they would have stood a good chance of winning it if not for the demoralizing injury concerns.

“I’ve never faced a situation like this and maybe no one has, where in one match you lose three bowlers. When we started we had a balanced attack, with bowlers I could use for various roles. But in the first innings we lost that. We had been in a position where we could have even dominated the game,” he said.

(Inputs from Reuters)