The dream of every up and coming promising cricketer is to score a century for his country at the highest level. And to achieve that feat on his Test debut while performing away from home is even more significant.
This is exactly what Pathum Nissanka did on Wednesday, in Antigua as he rewrote Sri Lanka’s cricketing history on the fourth day of the opening Test against the West Indies.
The iconic Sir Vivian Richards Stadium was the venue for another masterclass innings as the 22-year-old elegant right-hander hit a magnificent 103 runs from 252 deliveries inclusive of six boundaries.
It was a fantastic innings of temperament and patients from the former schoolboy of Isipathana College as he joined a select band of Sri Lankan cricketers who have scored a Test hundred on debut.
His performance was even more significant considering the fact that it was 20 years ago that Sri Lanka produced a centurion on debut when Thilan Samaraweeera scored an unbeaten 103 against India at the SSC Grounds in Maitland Place.
Landmark innings
There are more reasons for Nissanka to celebrate this landmark innings as he became the first Sri Lankan batsman to score a Test hundred on debut while performing away from home.
Wicket-keeper batsman Brendon Kuruppu (1987), Romesh Kaluwitharana (1992) and Samaraweera all scored their Test centuries on debut in Colombo.
But Nissanka was able to perform something different and it came when the team is struggling as he made a determined effort to revive Sri Lanka’s fading Test cricket with a memorable century.
It was not long ago that he came in for high praise from Sri Lanka’s Head Coach Mickey Arthur who described Nissanka as an all-format cricketer.
And not surprisingly he was able to make his Twenty20 (T20) debut and One Day International (ODI) debut in the same tour, which could be another piece of milestone for this young batting prodigy.
However, it turned out to be a baptism of fire for Nissanka as he had the bitter experience of ending up in the losing side in both T20Is and ODIs.
But those defeats only made him much stronger and determined to succeed as he decided to display his true potential in the longest format of the game against a pace heavy West Indies attack.
Consistent run-getter
Nissanka of course has been a consistent run-getter at domestic level in all three formats and his First-Class average of 67.54 is one of the best among the current Test cricketers.
Despite all those laurels under his name, Nissanka still remained a newcomer to Test cricket and his limited experience at the highest level was clear when he was dismissed for a 12-ball nine runs in the first innings.
But he was keen to get some runs under his belt very soon and he picked up the correct time and the bowlers to construct a career-building innings while batting under tremendous pressure.
No doubt, there were few anxious moments and a couple of edges went past his bat but Nissanka clearly showed that he has the real courage and the determination to play a long innings for Sri Lanka.
For more than five hours he kept the West Indies bowlers guessing all the time with a solid defence and collected his runs in a calculated manner with a less amount of risk.
0 comments:
Post a Comment