- By Vishal Pushkar
- Mon, 16 Feb 2026 10:47 PM (IST)
- Source:PTI
T20 World Cup 2026: Opener Pathum Nissanka on Monday turned a tricky chase into a walk in the park, his belligerent 52-ball 100 powering Sri Lanka to an eight-wicket win over Australia and securing their place in the Super Eights here. Set a record target of 182 at this venue, Sri Lanka rode on Nissanka's unbeaten knock and Kusal Mendis's 38-ball 51 to complete the task in 18 overs and leave Australia's qualification hopes hanging by a thread.
Pavan Rathnayake remained not out on 28 off 15 balls.
Nissanka smashed 10 fours and five sixes during his match-winning knock.
Australia will now need to win by a massive margin against Oman in their final match and rely on both Sri Lanka and Ireland to beat Zimbabwe to have any sort of outside chance whatsoever. In fact if Zimbabwe manage to beat Ireland on Thursday, then Australia will be knocked out even before meeting Oman in their last group league game.
Earlier, Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head blazed away to explosive fifties before Sri Lanka rallied to bowl out Australia for 181.
Australia's Innings:
Coming back into the playing XI after missing the team's first two matches of the tournament due to an injury, Marsh got into the act straightaway, clobbering 54 in 27 balls.
Head was equally brutal during his 29-ball 56, as the opening duo added 104 runs in less than nine overs to set Australia up for a 200-plus total.
But the Sri Lankans did much better in the back 10, with leg-spinner Dushan Hemantha (3/37 in 4 overs) emerging as the most successful bowler for the home team. The last four wickets fell for only six runs.
Sri Lanka's Innings:
In the chase, Sri Lanka copped an early blow when Kusal Perera failed to connect properly with a Marcus Stoinis ball and ended up slicing it to the deep backward point fielder.
The packed stands at the Pallekele International Stadium went quiet, but the duo of Nissanka and Mendis had other ideas as they added 97 runs for the second wicket to keep Sri Lanka ahead at the halfway stage of their innings.
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With 89 needed from 60 balls and with nine wickets in hand, Sri Lanka fancied their chances of overhauling the target.
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But Stoinis struck again, as Kusal Mendis hit one straight to the fielder at deep mid-wicket to give Australia an opening. However, there was no stopping Nissanka.