Sri Lankan opener Dimuth Karunaratne is recovering well in hospital after being struck while batting in the second Test against Australia in Canberra.
Karunaratne crumpled to the ground after ducking into a Pat Cummins bouncer which hit the back of his neck during the final session of Saturday's second day at Manuka Oval.
Play was delayed for close to 15 minutes while medical officials from both teams attended to the prone batsman.
The 30-year-old, who was on 46 when forced to retire hurt, left the ground in a neck brace on a motorised stretcher and was taken to hospital by ambulance.
He remained conscious but was set to receive further assessment after complaining of pain in his neck and tingling in his hands.
"At the moment, he's being assessed in the hospital but before he was leaving, I spoke to him and he was OK," Sri Lankan coach Chandika Hathurusingha told Fox Cricket.
"He was conscious throughout but he was in pain.
"He was hit on the back of the neck but initially on the shoulder, so the impact was a little bit less."
A visibly concerned Cummins approached Karunaratne to check on his opponent as he was taken from the ground.
"It was a bit scary at the start because of the way he fell backwards and threw the bat away," Hathurusingha said.
"And then he was not moving. But the umpires and our physio said he was conscious all the time so that's good news."
The incident appeared to rattle Sri Lanka, who went from 0-82 at the time to 3-123 at stumps in reply to Australia's 5(dec)-534.
