Classy Nissanka leaves England as the best version of himself

Pathum Nissanka 's celebration for his second Test century was familiar but still as crisp as ever.

Helmet in one hand, bat in the other, arms outstretched, and hair on point. Still for a moment, milking the ovation from the near-10000 here on Monday at the Kia Oval. A facsimile Jude Bellingham stance, albeit a good foot shorter, but with just as much aura. It said all that needed to be said; "you came for the last day of the English Test season, but you'll leave thinking of me".

There were not many better candidates for Sri Lanka's hero in this third Test. The neatness to Sri Lanka registering a first win at the Kia Oval since 1998, thanks to a man born earlier that year. Likewise, that a fourth Test win on these shores was steered home by someone skipper Dhananjaya de Silva was happy to label "the best batsman in Sri Lanka right now" during the post-match presentations. He will join the likes of Don Bradman and Gordon Greenidge as the seventh overseas batter to strike a fourth-innings hundred in a winning cause.

The overnight split of Nissanka's unbeaten 127 - 53 off 44 on Sunday evening, 74 off 80 the next morning - speaks to its pro-activeness. Sharp out the gates, calmness throughout, particularly in Autumnal conditions for part two - then a kick over the finish line with a flurry of boundaries.

The instructions at the start of the pursuit of 219 were simply to play with freedom. "What I told him was that even in 50 balls, he scores 150, I'm happy with that," revealed Sanath Jayasuriya. "What we need is runs." Runs are what they got, though perhaps not quite at the lick their interim coach suggested to the hero of the piece.

England still took the series, of course. But there was a sting to how easily they were dispatched by such measured yet attacking verve. Nissanka did unto them as they strive to do to others.

But don't get it twisted. Nissanka wasn't simply the best version of England, he was the best version of himself. And that is no accident, nor is it simply a story about steady technical progression, but rather steady growth.

The 30 months between centuries number one on debut and this one in his 11th cap speak for themselves, as do the contrasts. Against West Indies in March 2021, he spent 19 minutes shy of six hours at the crease, eventually finishing with 103 from 252 balls. He finished this match with 191 off a total of 175 balls, and the unique honour of being the ninth batter in Test history to pass fifty in fewer than fifty balls in both innings.

And yet, both are true reflections of Nissanka at the time. That arrival on the Test scene was predicated by an average of 65 in Sri Lanka's first-class system, which didn't just set him apart from the rest, but had beards trying to discern whether he was a phenomenon or just an anomaly. Given the country's batting production line had slowed to a chug, there was a temptation to settle on the latter.

Mickey Arthur, Sri Lanka coach at the time, knew they had a good one, but could also see how this "different beast", as he put it, needed to be honed rather than tamed. "I guess mentally we had to give him assurances that this is where we wanted him to play. This is what we wanted him to do. And irrespective of whether he was a success, we still backed him."

Things did not necessarily play out that way, even if Nissanka did have a solid enough average of 38.35 from his first nine caps, before a two-year hiatus. That was essentially the result of a back injury that initially sidelined him, before a long-term hamstring niggle that ended up ring-fencing him for limited-overs cricket.

White ball cricket, however, did not come all that easy until 2022, when he seemingly got bitten by a radioactive Sanath. The assumption of a new penchant for risk - rooted in hardwired knack for picking up length - came alongside a greater selection of shots to choose them. And the six one-day centuries that followed, including becoming the first Sri Lanka batter to strike an ODI double-hundred at the start of this year, ingrained a new natural game in Nissanka that has finally made it to the Test stage.

Across the four innings he has played on this tour, his 26 fours are more than half what he managed in the previous 15. The Olly Stone bouncers he sent into the stands at backward square leg on Sunday have now trebled his overall tally of Test sixes.

As Nissanka blocked everything worth blocking, while still managing to guide boundaries whether driving or leaping off his toes to cut through point, before finally opening his wrists into a drive in that region to confirm victory, it seemed crazy he missed that first Test. The reasons for that were nothing more than loyalty to Nishan Madushka as the man in possession of the openers' spot.

"Pathum came in after a long time with his injury," Jayasuriya explained. "And also Nishan Madushka and Dimuth (Karunaratne) - these were the guys we were playing with for almost a year, without Pathum. We wanted to give him (Madushka, eventually dropped for the third Test) the chance to play well."

The sense is that Dhananjaya wanted Nissanka in for the start. If there's any consolation, Sri Lanka's captain won't be starting a series without him any time soon.

There will be some inevitable patronising of Sri Lanka with this result. That it is good for the game and the wider health of Test cricket. Perhaps there is some truth to that. But at the same time, this Test veered into uninspiring patches largely because of England's approach.

Thankfully, though, Nissanka provided a classy ending - of a talent embarking on a grand new beginning.