Kumara goes from back-up to frontman

It's a story similar to that of many of his team-mates. Lahiru Kumara made his ODI debut as a 20-year-old in 2017, but has managed just 28 games over the years. He's battled all sorts of fast-bowler injuries in between: knee, back, ankle, hamstring, side… But every time he's returned, the one constant has been pace, bristling pace.

Unfortunately, he's been prone to waywardness and inconsistency; an ODI economy of 6.48 is some indication of that.

He doesn't swing the ball but can be more than handful if there's lateral movement. He also has the ability to work batters over with the short stuff. But, at the World Cup, on largely flat surfaces, he has had to work that much harder to execute.

Kumara didn't start the tournament and was largely seen as a back-up option. But Sri Lanka's pace stocks have been depleting faster than the world's gold reserves. Injured fast bowlers have recuperated and come in to replace other injured fast bowlers as a result. Kumara has been part of this merry-go-round for a while now. At the World Cup, he may well have been on the bench had Dushmantha Chameera been fit, but an injury to Matheesha Pathirana forced Sri Lanka to alter their combination.

On Thursday, Kumara was up against England on one of the flattest decks in the country. He came in with a clear plan. He was told clearly to forget about Australia - he managed all of four wicketless overs and got taken for 47. "Just go flat out, bowl short, and be the middle-overs enforcer."

It's easier said than done. But Kumara had been putting in the long hours in training. His nets sessions have been devoid of much drama. Just three stumps, the bowling coach on the side, and him. The mandate: bowl fast, hit the area marked out between short of length and good length repeatedly, and stick to one line. And Kumara had been at it, 30 minutes non-stop, sometimes 40, every day.

Kumara is strongly built. Broad shoulders, ripping muscles, he generates the strength from his core. The run-up may not be butter smooth, but there's a hustle, effort, the grunt as he finishes off in a whippy open-chested action.

On Thursday in Bengaluru, his pace and seam movement accounted for Jos Buttler. He bowled it just a touch fuller than Buttler probably anticipated as he tried to flay it on the up, the ball decking away and taking the thick outside edge to be superbly grabbed by Kusal Mendis behind the stumps. This was Kumara in his zone. He was simply running in and letting it rip. It's likely he wasn't sure how the ball was going to behave after pitching.

The ball that got Liam Livingstone lbw ducked back in off a length to trap him lbw as he played all around it. Kumara was simply targeting one spot, give or take a few centimetres this way or that. Most times, this small margin is the difference between good and bad deliveries on flat decks. Against England, Kumara also got a touch lucky that England were on damage-control mode after a top-order meltdown when he got into his act.

Kumara's biggest wicket was yet to come. Ben Stokes had begun to raise hopes of a rearguard of the kind he's known for. With England's campaign on the line, he reined himself in for much of his stay. It hadn't quite got to a point where he had to tee off, but he did nonetheless.

But Kumara, by then, was like a four-stroke engine. Bounding in, hitting hard lengths, generating some movement. He beat Stokes twice with balls that held their line. Stokes, though, couldn't hold back when he finally saw one dropped short. He took him on, pulling it from outside off, but picked out deep midwicket.

Kumara was modest enough to admit afterwards that the Stokes dismissal played out accidentally. It was perhaps just the rub of green he needed.

"Stokes," he said spontaneously with a smile when asked after the match which of the three wickets he had enjoyed the most. He led the flag wave with a few Sri Lankan fans, chatted with the press pack, and walked off with the contented smile of a man who had thoroughly enjoyed his moment in the spotlight for all the right reasons.

For once, he's not in the news for a scan or a period of rehab. It's about a bowling performance that has reinvigorated Sri Lanka's flagging World Cup campaign.