Good mindset and trust in game – virtues for Nissanka’s success

 Pathum Nissanka with the Player 

of the Match award

• The fella who put England’s bowling to the sword

THE OVAL: What is it that made run-scoring so free and easy for Pathum Nissanka and not so for experienced batters like Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews, and Dinesh Chandimal, who have been to England many times before?

A good mindset and trust in your game.

Those are the two virtues that stood out for Nissanka when he carved out a match-winning hundred against an overconfident England and helped Sri Lanka leave the shores of Old Blighty with their heads held high.

The way the first two Tests went, a win for Sri Lanka was never on the cards in the third and final Test at the Oval. But they say fortune favours the brave. Although being 2-0 down in the series and facing a 3-0 whitewash, Sri Lanka did not give up that easily. They fought tooth and nail till the end to achieve what many thought was unattainable.

Once the errant bowlers found their proper lines and lengths, suddenly it was game on, and England’s second innings capitulation for 156 left Sri Lanka with a target of 219 to chase in the fourth innings, which was not as easy as it may sound.

Sri Lanka’s top order had not delivered in the previous five innings and how they would get about chasing down the target was the prime concern.

But cometh the hour, cometh the man, and Nissanka was there to lead his team to a famous victory. Coming to red ball cricket after spending the last two years playing with the white ball, it took little time for Nissanka to make adjustments.

In his first appearance of the series at Lord’s, Nissanka was dismissed for 12 and 14, but followed it up with scores of 64 and 127* at the Oval.

“It was a little bit demanding adjusting to the red ball. Spent a lot of time training. I changed my game a bit compared to the Lord’s Test,” said Nissanka. “I wanted to have the same mindset that I have when I am playing white ball cricket. Trusted my game plan and was glad it worked. No big change. Just my mindset, nothing to do with skill set.”

“I am not thinking of too many things. I try to do what I can do. It is important what you do in the middle. I trust my game. However much you play well, you might get a good ball. What I needed was to trust my strengths. What has worked for me all these years is that when I trust, it works.”

“You have ups and downs as a batsman. But don’t put pressure on yourself. If your mindset is right, everything will fall in line. I work very hard on my game. I trust my game and I am glad I am able to be amongst the runs.”

Nissanka, who was named Player of the Match, said that he was pleased to have contributed to the win.

“We always feel good when we win overseas. Regret we could not win the series. I thought we gave England a close enough fight but not good enough to win the series.”

Sri Lanka cricket legend Kumar Sangakkara, who spent several years at the Oval playing county cricket for Surrey, also played a part in Sri Lanka’s success. Sangakkara was a commentator with Sky TV during the Test series, but he found time to speak to the Lankan players and offer useful advice.

“All our players benefitted from Kumar aiya. He has played a lot of cricket here. He gave tips not just to me, but to all our players and we benefitted immensely. He is a legend. I hope I am able to get to his milestone. But he is streets ahead. Scoring a hundred in England has given me lots of confidence. I hope it will help me in the future,” said 26-year-old Nissanka, a product of Isipathana College, which has turned out quite a number of cricketers who have gone onto wear the national cap, like Jayantha Paranathala (in the pre-Test era), Uvaisul Karnain, Asoka de Silva, Nuwan Zoysa, Suresh Perera, and Sanjeewa Weerasinghe to name a few, and Ashantha de Mel, Aravinda de Silva, Asanka Gurusinha, and Hashan Tillakaratne (who had their primary education at Isipathana College).