Nissanka, Kumara recalled for second Test at Lord’s

Sri Lanka Captain Dhananjaya de Silva (second from right) enjoys a light moment during practices at Lord’s with team mates Nisala Tharaka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Ramesh Mendis and Lahiru Kumara.

• Sri Lanka drop Kusal Mendis, Vishwa Fernando

Pathum Nissanka returns to the Test side after two years

LORD’S: Pathum Nissanka who has been on the sidelines of the Sri Lanka Test side since August 2022 will finally get his chance to make his mark in red ball cricket again after he was included in squad for the second cricket Test against England starting at Lord’s, London Thursday at the expense of Kusal Mendis who finds himself out of the eleven.

Mendis has been persisted for a long time and his current form in England – scores of 12 and 3 in the warm-up game and 24 and 0 in the first Test – does not warrant a place in the side especially with so much pressure being exerted by young players like Nissanka and Kamindu Mendis.

Nissanka went out of Test cricket after playing in nine Tests with an average of 38.35 inclusive of a century and five 50’s due to his lack of interest in the red ball game at the time. After that he became a preferred choice in the white ball format where he has carved a name for himself. He scored his country’s first double century in ODI cricket and is the leading run scorer in the format for the calendar year with 598 runs (avg. 74.75) inclusive of three centuries and one fifty – figures that cannot be ignored.

“Overall, Pathum is the best batter in the country at the moment,” said Sri Lanka Captain Dhananjaya de Silva. “He has a good mindset and he has good technique. Getting him into the team is great. We have been talking about it for a while now. I think he will adjust to any format.”

With Sri Lanka’s top order not firing well in the first Test – 6-3 in the first innings and 1-2 in the second, called for some radical changes to stem the rot. So, at Lord’s Dimuth Karunaratne will be walking out to open the batting with Nissanka.

Nishan Madushka who was Karunaratne’s opening partner, will be slotted to the number three position formerly occupied by Kusal Mendis. With Dinesh Chandimal still not 100 percent fit to keep wickets, Madushaka will take over the glove work behind the stumps. It was as wicket-keeper/batsman that Madushka made his Test debut in New Zealand in 2023 when he replaced Niroshan Dickwella. However, after that series he played only as an opener as the wicket-keeping duties were taken over by Sadeera Samarawickrama. With Samarawickrama also not being in the best of form recently, the wicket-keeping position went to Dinesh Chandimal who snaffled four victims in the England first innings, but was forced to give up the gloves after injuring his right thumb by a Mark Wood thunderbolt. He will however play as a batsman. The rest of the batting remains untouched with Angelo Mathews, De Silva, Chandimal and Kamindu Mendis forming the rest of the line-up.

Sri Lanka have also replaced left-armer Vishwa Fernando with the extra pace of Lahiru Kumara. Vishwa had a poor game at Manchester going for nearly six runs an over during England’s run chase without taking a wicket in his eight overs. Kumara bowled splendidly in his last Test series in Bangladesh in 2024 helping Sri Lanka make a 2-0 series sweep taking 11 wickets at 12.63.

Kumara will join forces with Asitha Fernando and Milan Rathnayake with the new ball. Prabath Jayasuriya will be the solitary specialist spinner.

Sri Lanka have arrived at Lord’s for the second cricket confident that with a little bit of luck and if their game plan had gone accordingly at Manchester, they would have been in a better position than they are now.

“We gave a good fight at Old Trafford, but that’s not good enough. We have to be more accurate with our plans,” said De Silva. “I am not concerned about the speed of Wood or anyone else. Speed is not troubling us, but it is the line and length. Chris Woakes was able to bowl 20 to 30 balls in one area and that’s what troubled us.”

Wood will no longer be there to worry Sri Lanka with his exceptional pace after injuring his thigh in the first Test at Manchester which has ruled him out of the series. England have replaced him with Olly Stone who returns to the side after a three-year absence.

Sri Lanka has not won a Test at Lord’s and the team is confident they are in a good position to do that and level the three-match series 1-all.

“We are more confident heading into this game. We were confident at Old Trafford as well but we failed to deliver. We have to be clear with our plans and execute them well. We have to bring our A game and bat deep in the first innings,” said De Silva.

“Our preparations have been good. The team spirit is also good. There are no issues. We batted well in the second innings. We have to do that in the first innings as well. Then we can put England under pressure. Winning at Lord’s will mean a lot for the country. But more importantly we need to get the points in the ICC World Test Championships.”