Sports

Pathum Nissanka story brings tears to your eyes

Published

5 years ago

2021/03/26

by Rex Clementine

There have been very few positives to write about our cricket team in recent times, but watching the first Test in Antigua was fully worth burning the midnight oil as young Pathum Nissanka became the fourth Sri Lankan to score a hundred on debut. This is a guy who has averaged 67 in First Class cricket over the last three years. Okay, we know records in our First Class cricket aren’t much to boast about, but such stats were worthy of earning someone a maiden Test cap because our stars aren’t exactly covering themselves in glory.

After being snubbed for the ICC Under-19 World Cup despite being a prolific run-getter, Pathum Nissanka Silva kept pursuing his dream by piling up hundred after hundred for NCC before finally being drafted into the senior side ahead of the tour of the West Indies. If his on-field exploits have been stirring, his off-the-field story is even more heart touching.

Sunil Silva, Pathum’s father, was the ground boy of Kalutara Esplanade, the cricket ground in the heart of the town. The ground is not visible from the road, but if you happened to travel to Galle or Matara by train, you cannot miss this ground. Having a bit of cricket knowledge made Sunil his son’s first cricket coach. They lived in abject poverty and to make ends meet, Pathum’s mother sold flowers near the Kalutara bodiya (temple) to devotees.

Colombo schools are constantly on the lookout for fresh faces, asking District Coaches to keep them in the loop if there’s any bright talent around. Pathum was making big runs for Kalutara Vidyalaya and quite a few schools including S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia were interested in him. But it was Isipatana that got to him first. It was quite a struggle.

Sunil Saluwadana, the brilliant cricket coach of Kalutara Vidyalaya, reluctantly agreed to let him go so that he could make progress in Colombo, but convincing his parents turned out to be not so easy. Not that they didn’t like the move to Colombo. It was just that locating their tiny house turned out to be a nightmare for the visiting party.

Isipatana Coach Pradeep Nishantha had travelled with one of his friends, Nilantha Amarasinghe, whose son captained Isipatana recently. As they were struggling to locate the house, Pradeep asked Pathum’s parents to come to Kalutara bodiya. It was at the bodiya that Pathum’s admission papers to Isipatana were signed. That both his parents didn’t have even basic education is a different story. “Not too sure whether any other child has signed his admission papers at Kalutara bodiya. This is the greatest blessing you can get. You will have a bright future,” Pradeep recalls telling young Pathum five years ago.

To reach Pathum’s house, you have to turn left from Kalutara junction and go some six kilometers along the Palathota road. He lives in one of the government-built houses for people affected by the tsunami.

Colombo life is hectic and expensive too. Pathum needed some assistance to make ends meet. While Isipatana College’s Junior Old Boys’ Union did chip in, that wasn’t enough to meet costs. So his coach turned to his friend Nilantha Amarasinghe. Nilantha is employed at Jayaratne Florists, and apprised his bosses of this bright prospect. The premier florists helped him with a monthly allowance. They were the happiest to know that young Pathum had been picked for the tour of West Indies and gifted him Rs. 250,000 as pocket money during his visit to the Caribbean.

Arjuna Ranatunga played with a bat that promoted his friend’s chicken shop – Sam’s. Mahela Jayawardene played with a bat that promoted Thilanga’s newspaper – Lakbima. Pathum may well use a logo for the bat that says, ‘The best undertakers in town – Jayaratne’.

After finishing up at Isipatana, Pathum went back to Kalutara and represented Badureliya CC. Then, former Test captain Hashan Tillekeratne persuaded him to make a shift back to Colombo to play for NCC.

Not just asking Pathum to make the move, Hashan made sure he looked after the boy, treating him like one of his own sons. NCC has a reputation for looking after young talent from outstation. Another tradition at NCC is to treat everyone as an equal – seniors and juniors all get paid the same amount. It helped that he had some very good seniors in the club like Upul Tharanga, Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Perera. There were good mentors at the club as well like Ranjit Fernando, Malan Ranasinghe, Duminda Perera and Leslie Hewage.

There were temptations, of course. There is this notion that you have a better chance of representing Sri Lanka if you cross the road from NCC. More recently, another neighbouring club of NCC has got more political clout, with one of our former Test captains calling the shots at the Sports Ministry. So the done thing these days is to jump over the fence of NCC and not cross the road. But Pathum remained loyal to NCC, and has been richly rewarded.

Often, when things go well, we tend to forget that there are issues which need to be addressed. Here’s one of them. Pathum has been a top-order batsman all his life. Why Sri Lanka played him at number six is beyond comprehension.

There was similar hope when Kusal Mendis came on to the scene in 2015. A son of a three-wheeler driver, Kusal’s was a case of sheer hard work being able to take you places, irrespective of your social status. But Kusal’s father has turned out to be such a social menace that he is not only influencing senior police officers but is alleged to be threatening victims as well after his notorious son’s infamous hit-and-run last year.

It is very important that when young players earn millions on a monthly basis, they are properly guided. Most agents who are managing players only bother about promoting their images on social media. Values mean nothing to them. Hence, we are left with incorrigible youngsters like Kusal Mendis. Let’s hope Pathum’s story will be different. Sri Lankan cricket needs it to be different, badly.

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Harshitha’s composed knock seals Sri Lanka’s semi-final berth

Published

17 hours ago

2026/09/7

Priyan

Harshitha Samarawickrama took Sri Lanka home with her unbeaten 48 [ACC]

Harshitha Samarawickrema’s splendid 48 not out off 37 balls took Sri Lanka over the line in a low-scoring thriller against Bangladesh. The defending champions secured a semi-final berth with a four-wicket win, and by virtue of topping Group B, will play the side that finishes second in Group A on Friday.

An excellent opening spell of 2 for 17 from Marufa Akter put Bangladesh in firm control of the match after they posted a below-par target of 115, thanks to Chamudi Prabodha’s career-best figures of 3 for 21.

Sri Lanka found themselves behind the required run rate for much of the chase after losing their top order inside the powerplay and slipping to five down by the tenth over. But a resolute Samarawickrama brought Sri Lanka back into the contest by absorbing the pressure throughout the middle overs before landing the final punches to seal the win. This was Sri Lanka’s seventh consecutive win over Bangladesh.

Praboda strangles Bangladesh

This was only the sixth international match the 17-year-old left-arm spinner had played after making her debut against Pakistan in a three-match T20I series last month, and she doubled her tally of wickets on Sunday.

As Bangladesh looked to rebuild after Juairiya Ferdous fell in the fifth over, Praboda struck in her first over, the seventh of the match, to send the dangerous-looking Dilara Akter back to the hut two balls after being hit for a boundary by her. Dilara made a run-a-ball 26 after adjusting to the slow surface. She made her attacking intent known in the third over when she dispatched three consecutive balls from Sri Lanka pacer Chethana Vimukthi for boundaries.

Praboda and the other Sri Lankan spinners bowled with great discipline and used their variations with great guile to put a stranglehold on the Bangladesh batters, who managed just 114 for 8.

With Sobhana Mostary (34 off 41) and Shorna Akter (9 off 14) stretching their steady 41-run stand into the death overs, the Bangladesh dugout must have anticipated a much bigger total than what they eventually managed. Their hopes were bulldozed by Praboda in her last over as she accounted for both batters inside three balls. The left-arm spinner bamboozled Mostary with flight to have her stumped before drawing Dilara into chipping a tossed-up delivery back to her.

An unlucky outing for Athapaththu

Nilakshi Silva and Vimukthi dropped sitters off Chamari Athapaththu’s bowling, with the former putting down Mostary in the 14th over. Athapaththu eventually got a wicket in her last over, but missed out on a second when on-field umpire Humaira Farah turned down a clear caught-behind appeal off the last ball of her spell.

During the chase, her stay at the crease lasted only two balls, as Fahima Khatun took a sharp catch at first slip when she advanced down the pitch to smash Marufa over the top of her head. That shot, on any other day, would have landed in the stands, as is often the case when Athapaththu charges at the bowlers.

Marufa turns a straightforward chase into a contest

Bangladesh needed early wickets to make a contest of what many expected to be a cakewalk for Sri Lanka, with the required rate below a run-a-ball at the start of the chase. Marufa delivered exactly what was needed, accounting for both Sri Lankan openers.

Marufa had Athapaththu caught at first slip off the last ball of the first over before bowling a jaffa in her next over, rattling Imesha Dulani’s stumps with one that ripped through the gate. Her three powerplay overs yielded 2 for 17.

Sri Lanka’s middle order crumbled under pressure as Sanjana Kavindi was bowled by Sultana Khatun off the last ball of the powerplay. They were soon five down for 44 in the tenth over, but a gutsy 38-run stand between Samarawickrama and Nilakshika Silva brought them back into the contest and threatened to take the game away from Bangladesh.

Desperate for a breakthrough, Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana returned to her trump card in the 17th over, and Marufa obliged with a perfect over to shift the momentum back in her side’s favour. The seamer bowled Silva and conceded only four runs to finish with career-best T20I figures of 3 for 21. It was the fourth time in her 48-match T20I career that she had taken three wickets in the format.

Samarawickrama finishes the job

Ritu Moni had been immaculate in her first three overs, but Samarawickrama plundered 16 runs off her last over – the most conceded in an over in the match – to swing the game in Sri Lanka’s favour.

A lucky inside edge off the second ball raced to the fine-leg boundary as Moni followed Samarawickrama after she backed away to make room on the off side. The next ball landed straight into the advertising cushion at midwicket as the batter swept the medium pacer for six. She then danced down the wicket to launch Nahida Akter for a towering six down the ground, reducing the equation to two off the final over.

The win came off the second ball of the final over, with the ball trickling past the keeper after brushing her pad.

Scores:
Sri Lanka Women 115 for 6 in 19.2 overs (Imesha Dulani 12, Harshitha Samarawickrama 48*, Nilakshika Silva 18, Kaushini Nuthyangana 11*; Marufa Akter 3-21, Sultana Khatun 1-14, Ritu Moni 1-29) beat Bangladesh Women 114 for 8 in 20 overs (Dilara Akter 26, Juairia Ferdous 14, Solbhana Mostary 34, Fahima Khatun 14; Sugandika Kumari 2-22, Chamari Athapaththu 1-20, Chamudi Praboda 3-21, Kavisha Dilhari 1-17) by four wickets

[Cricinfo]

Sports

Pathum rejoins Sri Lankan team after surgery

Published

18 hours ago

2026/09/7

Thilina Walpola

Prolific top order batter Pathum Nissanka taking part in religious observances before heading off to London on Saturday

by Rex Clementine

Prolific top order batter Pathum Nissanka has rejoined the Sri Lankan squad after three months on the sidelines following wrist surgery.

Nissanka suffered the injury during Sri Lanka’s tour of the West Indies in June and subsequently flew to London for surgery. The setback ruled him out of the LPL, the Test series against India and the start of the domestic season.

He returned to action for NCC in the domestic T20 competition last week, using the outing to prove his fitness and earn a recall to the national side.

Nissanka travelled to London with the Sri Lankan team on Saturday. The tourists will hold several training sessions in the capital before heading to Southampton for the first T20I next week.

While Nissanka has cleared the fitness hurdle, white-ball skipper Kusal Mendis has not been so fortunate. Mendis, who has been nursing a hamstring injury, was withdrawn from the T20 squad along with left-arm seamer Binura Fernando, with both yet to prove their fitness.

Sri Lanka Cricket announced that Charith Asalanka will lead the side in Mendis’ absence, while Pavan Rathnayake and Dilshan Madushanka have been added to the squad.

There will be plenty of focus on Nissanka during the tour, not least because of the memories he created in England two years ago, when a stunning hundred at The Oval set up one of Sri Lanka’s most memorable overseas Test wins.

Chasing 219 under gloomy, overcast skies, with conditions tailor made for England’s seamers, Nissanka produced an innings of rare quality. Early on, his judgement outside off stump and ability to counter the moving ball drew admiration. Once his eye was in, however, caution gave way to command. Elegant drives flowed before the cuts and pulls came out, underlining that he was anything but a one dimensional player.

Wisden, reflecting on the innings, observed that there was a touch of Roy Dias in Nissanka early on before the Duleep Mendis in him emerged after he had passed fifty. It was an especially fitting comparison given that Roy had coached Nissanka at Sri Lanka Under-19 level.

Nissanka’s unbeaten 127 came from just 124 deliveries and proved instrumental in Sri Lanka securing their first Test victory in England in a decade.

Attention will also be firmly fixed on how Sri Lanka fare in the T20s, a format in which they have struggled in recent months. Their ODI fortunes, however, have been considerably brighter, with victories over Australia and India, two of the world’s leading sides, during the last 24 months.

Sports

Carey, Wadduwa Central clash in U17 Division II semi-final

Published

18 hours ago

2026/09/7

Thilina Walpola

Carey College Colombo will meet Wadduwa Central College in the semi-final of the Under-17 Division II Inter-Schools Limited Overs Cricket Tournament at Ananda Mawatha today.

‎The tournament, conducted by the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association, began with 65 teams divided into eight groups. The top four teams from each group advanced to the second round, where the competition switched to a knockout format.

‎Carey College entered the second round as group champions, while Wadduwa Central progressed as runners-up from their group. Carey then defeated St. Aloysius’ College, Ratnapura, St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya (B), and Trinity College, Kandy (B), in successive knockout rounds.

‎Wadduwa Central overcame Zahira College, Colombo, Anuradhapura Central College and S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia (B), to book their place in the last four.

‎Carey College will be led by Akid Ossen, while Anuja Gihan will captain Wadduwa Central in what promises to be a keenly contested semi-final.

Carey College (from):

Akid Ossen (Captain), Tuan Jappar, Omika Sanhiru, Irusha Vidarshana, Dinan Ekanayake, Thenula Ekanayake, Siluna Sandil, Dulina Nanayakkara, Sandila Nanayakkara, Nethum Peiris, Shenal Jayasekara, Oshada Bandara.

Officials:

Shehan Lasantha David (Master in Charge), Preethiraj Walpitagamage (Coach)

Wadduwa Central (from):

Anuja Gimhan (Captain), Dinith Newumal (Vice captain), Sumesh Malka, Imesh Chathuranga, Ishan Priyadarshana,Vikum Sathsara, Lesandu Sanhindu, Nadith Prabodha, Daham Didula, Yasiru Nethsara, Chamesh Mokshan, Praveen Theekshana, Kaveesha Sayuranga, Senuth Hesara, Binara Gimsara.

Officials:

Gayathri De Silva (Teacher in Charge), Dhanushka Ranmuthu (Head Coach)