Matheesha Pathirana bowled brilliantly despite Sri Lanka losing to England recently. The first T20I in Colombo ended with an 11-run defeat. But Pathirana’s spell gave Sri Lankan fans serious hope for the future.
He grabbed 1 wicket while giving away just 18 runs in 4 overs. His economy rate of 4.5 per over impressed everyone watching. Sharp yorkers mixed with slower balls and short deliveries dominated his spell.
Matheesha Pathirana even touched 148kph during that match surprisingly. He bowled two powerplay overs without any prior planning. Sri Lanka’s low score forced the captains to use him early.
Release Point Changes After Injury
A major shoulder injury changed everything for Matheesha Pathirana last year. The injury altered his bowling release point completely during recovery. That change messed up his rhythm and control badly.
He struggled for over a year while dealing with various injuries. His international appearances stayed limited throughout 2025 because of this. Chennai Super Kings even released him after IPL 2025 ended.
The release point issue worried coaches and fans equally back then. Higher release points reduce accuracy and effectiveness for fast bowlers. Pathirana needed serious rehabilitation work to fix this problem.
Hard Work Pays Off
Matheesha Pathirana credits his improvement to relentless hard work recently. Lasith Malinga visited Sri Lanka and helped him during practice. All SLC coaches contributed to his comeback journey too.
Ongoing rehab between matches gradually restores his natural release point now. Visible improvements appear in every spell he bowls currently. The T20 World Cup 2026 timing couldn’t be better for him.
He bowled only three wides during that England match. That shows massive control improvement after months of struggle. His confidence looks sky-high again after dark times.
Other Bowlers Struggled
Sam Curran and Eshan Malinga went for around 12 runs per over. Jofra Archer and Jamie Overton also conceded over 7 runs per over. Only Pathirana maintained tight control of that batting-friendly pitch.
His performance stood out massively compared to other seamers there. The pitch helped batters but Matheesha Pathirana still dominated somehow. Release point adjustments are clearly working perfectly for him now.
The T20 World Cup 2026 needs Sri Lanka’s pace spearhead to fire consistently. Pathirana’s return to form gives them a genuine match-winner. February can’t arrive soon enough for Sri Lankan cricket fans.
