At the Pallekele International Stadium in Kandy on Monday, the co-hosts defeated Australia by eight wickets in the 30th match to chase their best T20 total. Opener Pathum Nissanka made history by becoming just the second Sri Lankan batter to get a century in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.

Pavan Rathnayake made the game-winning run for the co-hosts to guarantee a position in the Super 8s, while Nissanka stayed undefeated at 100 off 52 deliveries. After Marcus Stoinis removed Kusal Perera in the second over, the co-hosts’ chase of 182 got off to a bad start.

Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis came out well, striking boundaries with ease and putting Australia on the defensive despite losing Perera early. The co-hosts rapidly amassed 61 runs for the first wicket by the end of the Power-play, which was their third-highest Power-play total against Australia in Twenty20 Internationals.

As Sri Lanka maintained constant pressure on Australia, runs kept coming in for the co-hosts. This followed a historic Power-play session that saw Australia and Sri Lanka reach the highest-ever total of 131 in the history of the T20 World Cup.

As the chase accelerated, their deft play and poise enabled the hosts keep the lead. Earlier, captain Mitchell Marsh, who had recovered from injury, was picked to bat first. He and opener Travis Head smashed the ball all over the ground and stitched an opening partnership of 104 runs off 52 deliveries. Australia scored 70/0 in the first six overs, their fourth-highest Powerplay total in T20 World Cup history.

With their powerful hitting, Marsh (54) and Head (56) put pressure on the co-hosts by bringing all the bowlers to task, including a 20-run sixth over. In addition to lighting up Pallekele, this aggressive play caused Sri Lanka to struggle, forcing Matheesha Pathirana to exit the game because of a left leg injury.

As the hosts applied pressure with consistent spin bowling, the momentum swiftly shifted. Australia lost the final eight wickets for 72 runs, completely losing the match in the last overs. With statistics of 3/37, his best in T20Is, Dushan Hemantha concluded his spell.

Both batters reached their fifties in quick succession as Mendis and Nissanka kept adding runs. In the T20 World Cups, Nissanka tied Tillakaratne Dilshan with his sixth score of over 50, only surpassed by Mahela Jayawardene’s seven. With his fifth over-50 score in the tournament’s history, Mendis was not far behind.

Nissanka became just the second Sri Lankan opener to achieve a century in the T20 World Cup after achieving an incredible century under extreme duress. The stadium erupted in applause for a genuinely remarkable innings as he reached his century in just fifty-two balls, sending the audience into raptures.

“The wicket played really well today, which allowed me to play my natural game,” Nissanka stated. Getting a hundred and taking my squad home makes me very happy. We required an effective power play. Kusal Mendis and I had a great middle-field relationship. After that, I just needed to wait for the balls to enter my zone in order to finish my innings and lead my team across the finish line. I was pleased that I was able to put a number of balls away to the fence and that they played to my strengths.

Australia Skipper Mitchell Marsh said, “I thought it was a competitive total at the halfway mark. We probably left ourselves a few short after the start we had. It is disappointing. Well played to Sri Lanka. They outplayed us tonight, We know that at our best, we can make big scores. We just lost our way towards the back-end. Couldn’t get the partnership going. Sri Lanka bowled really well towards the back-end.”

Dasun Shanaka, the captain of Sri Lanka, praised it as one of his team’s best recent efforts. “You could say that it’s among our best performances in a long time. We knew how the wicket would play, so I’m really pleased with how the innings went. Today, everyone’s body language was extremely elevated. For us, that is a huge plus. Everyone wanted to help the squad in some way. Hemantha, Theekshana, and Chameera all performed admirably. Very pleased with everyone’s contributions.”

Brief scores:
Australia 181 all out in 20 overs (Travis Head 56, Mitchell Marsh 54; Dushan Hemantha 3-37, Dushmantha Chameera 2-33)
Sri Lanka 164/2 in 18 overs (Pathum Nissanka 100 not out, Kusal Mendis 51; Marcus Stoinis 2-46) by eight wickets.