Sports
Pathum Nissanka story brings tears to your eyes
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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Scotland face West Indies with a chance to reopen World Cup wounds
Scotland take on West Indies in Leeds at 18:30 local time (17:30 GMT) in Group 2 of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026. Both teams won their opening matches in this competition – Shemaine Campbelle’s unbeaten 90 aided by New Zealand’s dropped catches saw West Indies emerging victorious, while a strong all round performance from Scotland brushed aside Ireland.
Scotland and West Indies have played each other only three times across formats – their lone T20I meeting coming at the last World Cup. Crucially, though, Scotland dealt West Indies perhaps their biggest blow in recent times with their win in the Women’s ODI World Cup Qualifier last year. Scotland staved off an all-round show from Hayley Matthews to eke out an 11-run win, denying West Indies a chance to qualify for the ODI World Cup last year.
Coming on the back of a comfortable win, expect Scotland to go in unchanged.
Scotland (probable XI): Darcey Carter, Katherine Fraser, Kathryn Bryce (capt), Sarah Bryce (wk), Ailsa Lister, Megan McColl, Priyanaz Chatterji, Rachel Slater, Chloe Abel, Kirstie Gordon, Gabriella Fontenla
West Indies head coach Shane Deitz had said that Chinelle Henry was close to playing their opening game. If fit, she can add heft to their lower-middle order as well as the bowling department.
West Indies (probable XI): Qiana Joseph, Hayley Matthews (capt), Shemaine Campbelle (wk), Deandra Dottin, Jahzara Claxton/Chinelle Henry, Jannillea Glasgow, Aaliyah Alleyne, Zaida James, Shawnisha Hector, Afy Fletcher, Karishma Ramharack
Players to watch:
Kathryn Bryce: The Scotland captain had a big role to play in their first win at this T20 World Cup. She scored a rapid half-century and picked up two wickets against Ireland. Bryce has picked up at least one wicket in 11 of the 12 T20Is she has played this year, apart from being consistent with the bat. Her experience of playing regularly in England’s domestic circuit could be key for Scotland against West Indies.
Deandra Dottin: She was at her brutal best in the last iteration of the T20 World Cup (strike rate 165.54, average 39.4, 12 sixes) but since the start of 2025, Dottin has only one T20I half-century at a strike rate of 122.84. Dottin had scored an unbeaten 15-ball 28 the last time she faced Scotland. Can she find her mojo back against them?
While Australia’s bowlers bulldozed Bangladesh, India’s batters made merry to show the batting-friendly nature of the surface in Leeds. Weather wise, the evening is likely to become cooler, with temperatures ranging from 19 to 22 degrees Celsius. There is no forecast of rain, even though it grew slightly overcast towards the start of Netherlands’ innings on Wednesday.
[Cricinfo]
Sports
Sooryavanshi to have parents with him on tour of Ireland and England
The BCCI has allowed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s parents to accompany their son on his maiden India tour of Ireland and England in June and July to help the 15-year-old cope with any challenges that may arise. The board secretary Devajit Saikia said the BCCI would cover their expenses on the trip.
“You see, not all national teams at the senior level have a 14 or 15-year-old in their squad. After many decades, we have someone like Vaibhav Sooryavanshi,” Saikia told PTI. “At one point in time, it was Sachin Tendulkar who made it to the national team at such a young age. When such a young kid is part of the senior team, there are obviously a lot of issues that can crop up.
“Therefore, to make him comfortable and help him get used to an adult environment, where all the other players are above 18 years of age, and the team management members are also adults, we felt it would be helpful.
“We are doing this because we believe it will ease a lot of issues as far as Vaibhav is concerned.”
Sooryavanshi was picked in India’s T20I squad for the first time following a stellar IPL 2026 season in which he top-scored with 776 runs at a strike rate of 237.30, winning the Orange Cap, the MVP, and Emerging Player awards.
He is currently in Sri Lanka, representing India A for the first time, in a 50-over tri-series against Afghanistan A and Sri Lanka A, and became the focal point of an on field confrontation that involved physical contact during the game against the hosts.
While no official sanctions have been announced for any code of conduct breaches, the A-team tri-series falls within the jurisdiction of the host board – Sri Lanka Cricket – and not the ICC or BCCI. Saikia dismissed the notion of the BCCI taking any action.
“A lot of things are going on in the social media that BCCI is contemplating action, etc. Do you want BCCI to step into the domain of match referee?” Saikia said. “The BCCI is not an authority, we should not intrude into the area where the match referee and the umpires are the main persons who can take any decision regarding any incident that had happened in the playground.
“Whatever had happened, it was a part of the game, and the BCCI have no role to play. The role is of the match referee. If anything is going wrong, he will take a call, the umpires will take a call, and there is a system in place.”
Sooryavanshi has so far scored only 117 runs with a high score of 44 in four innings in the tri-series , but those runs have come at a strike rate of 153.94. India A have qualified for the final in Dambulla on June 21.
[Cricinfo]
Sports
Luis Diaz, Colombia defeat World Cup 2026 debutants Uzbekistan
Colombia opened their World Cup Group K campaign with a 3-1 victory over Uzbekistan at the Estadio Azteca on Wednesday, as Daniel Munoz, Luis Diaz and Jaminton Campaz struck to overcome a spirited second-half response from the tournament debutants.
Uzbekistan were disciplined for long periods under their Italian coach Fabio Cannavaro, but Colombia’s greater quality stood out in front of a crowd of over 80,000 on a cool, rain-tinged evening in Mexico City.
Colombia the Copa America runners-up, had early sights of goal through Jhon Arias and James Rodriguez, but Uzbekistan sat deep, scrapped gamely and waited for mistakes. Bekhruz Karimov almost profited when he burst forward, only for Jhon Lucumi to intervene before he could shoot.
Diaz had the clearest chance of the opening half when he struck the post, before Abdukodir Khusanov slid in after the winger had knocked the ball past him, taking out both the Colombian player and a pitchside cameraman who required medical treatment.
Uzbekistan’s resistance finally cracked in the 40th minute. Diaz gathered the ball after an attack had broken down and clipped a fine pass into the path of Munoz, who guided home a neat finish for his third international goal.
The large Colombian contingent erupted, their yellow shirts making the Azteca look and sound almost like home. Chants of “Vamos Colombia”, adapted from a Club America-style chorus, rolled around the ground, while Uzbekistan’s small band of supporters answered with drums of their own.

Uzbekistan improved after the break and equalised on the hour with the country’s first World Cup goal.
Dostonbek Khamdamov fed Eldor Shomurodov, whose shot from the right side of the box was saved low by Camilo Vargas. The goalkeeper could not hold it, however, and Abbosbek Fayzullaev nodded in the rebound from close range.

However, Uzbekistan’s joy lasted only five minutes.
Gustavo Puerta released Diaz in the 65th minute, and the forward side-footed across goal to restore Colombia’s lead. The crowd responded with chants of “Lucho, Lucho”.
Uzbekistan kept pushing. Akmal Mozgovoy shot narrowly off target in stoppage time, Karimov hit the bar with an effort from distance, and Azizbek Amonov had a shot blocked after Otabek Shukurov’s pass.
But Colombia had the final word, Campaz scoring in the ninth minute of stoppage time to settle a contest in which Nestor Lorenzo’s side had 15 attempts to Uzbekistan’s nine, and extended their strong recent group-stage record to seven wins in eight World Cup matches.
Colombia face DR Congo on Tuesday in Guadalajara, after Uzbekistan play Portugal on the same day in Houston.

[Aljazeera]
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