Pallekele : Sri Lanka defeated Australia by 8 wickets at Pallekele in ICC T20 WC 2026 Group B encounter & qualified easily for Super 8. Pathum Nissanka was star of the show with brilliant 100*(52).
Australia captain Mitchell Marsh returned to the playing XI after missing the previous match due to injury scare. And he made an instant impact, giving Australia the best start this World Cup so far. Marsh and Travis Head led the charge as Australia raced to 70/0 in powerplay.
Australia’s man for the big moments, Travis Head delivered yet again, scoring 56, with the help of seven fours and three sixes. But after Head fell at 104, Australia added less than 80 runs for the last nine wickets.
Sri Lankan spinners did all the the damage. Leg-spinner Dushan Hemantha provided the breakthrough by forcing an error from Head and then returned to pack off his partner. Meanwhile, left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage lured Green out, only for Kusal Mendis to complete an easy stumping. Kamindu Mendis, who bowls ocassionally dimissed the big-hitting Tim David.
While Australia were 105/1 after nine overs, they scored only 31 runs in the next five overs.
After giving Glenn Maxwell a repreive at 18, Pathum Nissanka held on to an incredible leaping catch as Maxwell attempted a switch hit. The blazing start gave Australia the impetus for a big total, but their middle order continues to disappoint and could never recover enough to put the pressure back on Sri Lanka.
In bowling, Hemantha led the way with 3/37 while pacer Dushmantha Chameera finished with 2/36, as Australia were reduced from 104-0 to 181 after 20 overs.
Defending 182, Australia were able to get an early breakthrough, dismissing opener Kusal Perera for just the one run in the second over.
It was Marcus Stoinis who got the wicket, making Perera slice tamely at a short of length delivery and give a simple catch to deep backward point.
However, the wicket did not slow down the co-hosts as the other opener Pathum Nissanka took charge, and along with the No.3 Kusal Mendis, troubled the Australian bowlers with their brilliant strokeplay. Both batters evetually got their half-centuries, keeping Sri Lanka on track.
Stoinis again came to Australia’s rescue, breaking the 97-run stand for the second wicket, dismissing Mendis for 51.
But the island nation refused to back down. Pavan Rathnayake provided the perfect support to Nissanka, who kept up with his onslaught, reducing the gap between the number of runs and balls left. 20 runs came off the next Stoinis over as Nissanka hammered without restraint.
The Australian bowlers struggled to get back in the game as Nissanka finally brought his century in the 18th over, becoming the first batter to get to the milestone in this edition of the T20 World Cup.
He remained unbeaten on 100, the joint-highest individual scores for SL in T20 World Cups. It was also the second-fastest T20I hundred for Sri Lanka.
The Lankan Lions on back of Nissanka’s ton chased down the massive 182 runs target in 18 overs, marking highest successful run chase for them in T20 WC.
