Sri Lanka left the first T20I at Headingley with an 11-run loss under the DLS method, yet their bowlers – and Matheesha Pathirana in particular – walked away with credit. England had been set 134 from 17 overs, then 115 from 15 after rain. On a surface that stayed true, seamers generally copped punishment: Sam Curran and Eshan Malinga conceded roughly 12 an over, Jofra Archer and Jamie Overton more than seven. Pathirana, though, slipped through four overs for 1 for 18 at 4.5 an over, ESPNcricinfo’s MVP numbers ranking him second only to Adil Rashid.
The 23-year-old’s remodelled release point – still a touch higher since a shoulder problem last year – hardly restricted his variety. He hurried Jonny Bairstow with yorkers in the mid-140s kph, mixed in slower-ball cutters and even a bouncer or two. Most tellingly, two of those overs came with the new ball, an unusually early entry for a man known as a death-overs specialist.
“Even though I’ve practiced to bowl in the powerplay, there was no plan as such for me to bowl there today,” Pathirana said after the match. “It just so happened that our score was lower than we wanted, so it was decided that I would bowl in the powerplay.”
Only three wides emerged from the slingy right-armer, notable given previous struggles with line. He puts the improvement down to a winter spent on repetition-based drills under Lasith Malinga, now part of Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup staff.
"Honestly I didn't do anything major, just simple, basic things. The main thing was increasing the number of repetitions in practice. If there is any improvement, that's the reason"
Malinga’s methods – cones on a length, taped-off yorker targets – are hardly new, yet their value lies in monotony. Coaches at Sri Lanka Cricket report the pair clocked hundreds of deliveries a day once Pathirana’s shoulder allowed full tilt. The result: pace maintained, accuracy nudged forward, confidence restored.
It is a pleasing upswing for a bowler who managed only two international T20s in 2025, lost rhythm, then lost his IPL deal with Chennai Super Kings. Injuries, he admits, forced the technical shift; “my body just automatically changed the release point,” he told local radio last month. That release is still bedding in – one yorker sailed well past Jos Buttler – yet the signs are promising.
Fielding lapses did not help: Pathum Nissanka spilled a straightforward chance off Liam Livingstone that would have handed Pathirana a second scalp. Even so, Sri Lanka kept England to a chaseable mark before their own batting fell away against Rashid’s 3 for 19. The series moves to Cardiff on Sunday, where Pathirana’s evolutions will again be under the microscope – this time, Sri Lanka hope, with a slightly larger cushion to defend.
