In January he was purveyor of record-setting brutality, clubbing 16 sixes and two fours in a domestic T20. In February, he bounced MS Dhoni out in Pune, en route to the game's best figures of 3 for 16. The World T20 cameos came in March: 15 off 9 against England, 20 not out against South Africa.And though he'd seemed a strange presence in the May squad to England, he wangled his way into the XI with a swashbuckling 112 against Leicestershire. By lunch at Headingley he'd broken England's top order open. Almost unheard of 12 months ago, now "where has this guy been all this time", this is Dasun Shanaka's 2016.Nuwan Pradeep may have brought swinging precision in the morning. Shaminda Eranga might have seamed it in either direction. Dushmantha Chameera was sharper, and pitched it shorter than both. Yet it was Shanaka's 125-kph (77mph) drifting flower petals that lent the warmest invitation - that convinced the England batsmen to dance, or at least to drive.Shanaka is from coastal Negombo, in whose mangroves and lagoons multitudes of fish are spawned, in whose oceans entire schools are snared, and whose markets ring day-long with squawks of vendors hawking beautiful yellowfin tuna here, wriggling parava there, baskets of little salaya in the corner.
Shanaka baited the hook against Alastair Cook in the first over, sliding a full one across him. Then he floated it fuller and slightly wider at the beginning of the second, and Cook bit down - the 10,000-run milestone having to wait. Nick Compton was soon lured into a crab-trap: prodding awkwardly forward to meet the seaming ball, but prodding not quite far enough. Joe Root's stay was almost as brief. It was the net Shanaka and Angelo Mathews had set down between the keeper and backward point that snared this big fish.In between this sublime eight-ball burst in which he claimed more than 10% of his first-class wickets, this debutant rejoiced in the time-honoured Sri Lankan seamers' way. Cook's wicket was one he would "remember until the end", Shanaka said, but at the time there was merely a limp holding aloft of gangly limbs and a goofy -almost bashful - grin. When Lahiru Thirimanne held Compton's edge close to the ground, he performed a pirouette to check if the umpire would give the batsman out, then rushed to his team-mates to miss high fives.Even the wicket of Root - an established Sri Lanka tormentor - prompted only more of the same. It was excitement rather than aggression. No snarling pumps with clenched fists. Lasith Malinga had been like that long ago. Chaminda Vaas too, at the start of his career. Eranga and Pradeep still produce the overeager sprint to the slips, though they've had a few years in the game, but at times Shanaka appeared as shocked by his success here as most who have studied his career bowling statistics would have been.Like Shanaka, Pradeep is a Negombo native, but it was with Chameera that Shanaka went to school and played first XI cricket with, on the field with a view of the main Negombo road, opposite a petrol shed, and not far from the centre of the cluttered town. Maris Stella College's 2010 scorecards feature both names heavily; Chameera claiming the wickets, Shanaka giving occasional support with the ball, but bruising runs more often. His old team-mate was bowling at over 140kph (87mph) at the other end when each of Shanaka's wickets came."We all know that Dushmantha is naturally attacking," Shanaka said. "I had to stick to the basics and make sure I did my part as his bowling partner. We've had a good understanding since school about how to go about that. Anyway with my bowling it can move both ways, so the instructions were to keep it on the spot."When England had been 49 for 0 in the second hour, it appeared they had weathered the attack's worst, and were settling in. The day could have so easily gone as badly for Sri Lanka as most had expected their series to. But they emerged with credit on the first day at least, and Shanaka's unassuming seam-up sprung the first of what Sri Lanka hope will be a great many surprises.