Australia vs Sri Lanka HIGHLIGHTS, T20 World Cup 2026: Nissanka slams century as SL beats AUS by 8 wickets

AUS vs SL, T20 World Cup 2026: Nissanka century powers Sri Lanka to Super Eight, pushes Australia to brink of exit

The Sri Lanka opener struck an unbeaten 100 off just 52 balls, which allowed his side to overhaul the 182-run target in 18 overs.

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Australia tumbled to a crushing eight-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka in a T20 World Cup 2026 group-stage match in Pallekele on Monday. Has Australia ever been knocked out in group stages at T20 World Cups?

One of the best performances in the recent past. We were still positive after losing Pathirana. We knew about the wicket as well, each and every player showed a good body language. Really happy how we pulled back after that. All bowlers delivered. Missing Hasaranga is big, but we have cover for him. Him being there makes a big difference but we cannot change what has happened. We knew if we can keep them under 200, we can get this total at this ground. It is good to have qualified after so long. Hopefully we can go all the way, thanks to the crowd too for its support.

I thought it was a competituve total but we left ourselves short with the start we had. Well done to Sri Lanka to chase that down. We know we can make big scores and we lost out way towards the end, could not get partnerships. Not much else to say other than Sri Lanka outplayed us. It is a devastated group, it’s upto the Gods now. A lot of emotion in the group now and we’ve not been at our best. We watch the Ireland-Zimbabwe game now and hope for the best.

Wicket was good today and I am happy to get the team home. We needed a good PP, got a partnership with Kusal Mendis and after that it was just about continuing it and getting through. Usually, it is easier chasing at Pallekele and there was not much dew today either. I just waited for the right ball to attack which suited his strengths.

Pathum Nissanka becomes second Sri lankan player to score century in T20 World Cups

Pathum Nissanka became the second Sri lankan to score a century in the T20 World Cup history during the match against Australia at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Monday.

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Zampa back into the attack. FOUR! A back-of-a-length ball, Nissanka waits for it to turn, a wrong one comes into him, and he pulls this through square leg.

FOUR again! Another slog sweep and this finds the gap between deep square leg and deep midwicket.

Two runs to long on on the next ball, gets Nissanka to 99 runs.

HUNDRED for Nissanka! A pull to long on for a single, and he gets his ton off 52 balls. A massive innings and Kandy is raucous.

FOUR and Sri Lanka is through to Super Eight. Sri Lanka beats Australia by 8 wickets.

Nissanka with a SIX off Ellis! He gets a wide ball, charges down to it and slices this over backward point.

SIX more! A ramp shot now, Nissanka is picking runs for fun. A full ball, gets across the wickets and ramps this over fine leg.

A single to deep covers to end the over. 18 runs from this over.

Maxwell for his second over. FOUR for Rathnayake. He shuffles across the stumps and slog sweeps this through midwicket.

A close shave with a stumping for Rathnayake. He misses another slog sweep and Inglis takes off the bails in a flash. The replays show that a small part of his foot is inside the crease, survives by the barest of margins.

Four! Inglis misses a stumping now. Rathnayake misses his on-sided after shimmying down, gets a faint inside edge which throws Inglis off his tracks.

Stoinis for his final over. FOUR! A slower ball to Rathnatyake, lofts this over mid off. A single to deep square leg on the next.

FOUR for Nissanka! Deft! A length ball outside off and Nissanka glides this wide of short third. A bouncer, a crucial dot ball from Australia’s point of view. But Stoinis bowls a wide down leg to concede an extra on the next delivery.

Another boundary! A hard length ball and Nissanka hoists this over mid on. SIX! That is massive! A half volley and Nissanka absolutely smokes this over deep square leg. 20 runs from this over.

Zampa again. Nissanka late cuts, fielded by short third man, one run.

Rathnayake with a punch to long on for another single. Nissanka works the fourth delivery through square leg, plays this with soft hands to allow himself the time to run two.

FOUR! A release shot for Nissanka, steps out and lofts right back over the bowler’s head. Without this, it would have been a four-run over.

Stoinis for his third over.

WICKET! Kusal Mendis holes out at deep midwicket. The lack of a boundary in the last few overs proves fatal.

Kusal Mendis c Connolly b Stoinis 51(38)

Pavan Rathnayake gets off the mark with a FOUR! Chips this over covers. FOUR more! An edge through the third man region.

Glenn Maxwell into the attack. Fifty for Mendis off 35 balls. Nissanka sweeps but can only get a double. No boundaries in the last couple of overs. Fifty for Nissanka as well with a single. He gets there off 32 balls.

Ellis is back. A pinpoint yorker has hurt Nissanka’s toe. Literally a toe-crushing yorker that. He’s getting treatment. Plenty of singles but Sri Lanka will be looking for boundaries, at least one in an over. Five runs from the over

Zampa. Australia’s ground fielding has been really good tonight, they have saved at least 10-12 runs through that. Good over so far by the leg spinner. Cutting down boundary options is the way to go. Mendis cuts but once again terrific fielding in the deep saves a run.

Connolly. Mendis plays an inside out cover drive for four! Classy batting. There was an LBW appeal against Mendis but umpire wasn’t interested. Mendis ends the over with a sweep for four.

Adam Zampa into the attack. Mendis pulls the short ball away for four. And he will end the over with a similar shot and gets another boundary. 10 runs from the over.

Connolly continues. A good tight over, thanks to Australian fielders diving around to cover the gabs. Five runs from the over.

Stoinis. Now Mendis plays a late cut and again finds the gap for four past short third. Short ball by Stoinis and Nissanka pulls it in front of midwicket for four. Beautifully timed that. Another four! A bit lucky there as Nissanka got a thick outside edge. Inglis dived full stretch but couldn’t grab the ball.

Cooper Connolly into the attack. Nissanka hits a reverse sweep for a six! Splendid shot. Ends the over with another beautiful cut for four.

Nathan Ellis into the attack now. Mendis picks him over square leg for a six! Beautifully hit that. A huge appeal for LBW by Ellis but umpire is not interested. Australia has reviewed. Wickets missing, decision stays not out. Nine runs from the over.

Bartlett. Nissanka begins the over with a four, power away past mid on. He follows it up with a four towards fine leg. And Kusal Mendis ends the over with a delicate cut past the short third for four.

Marcus Stoinis from the other end. OUT! Kusal Perera comes down the track, chases a wide delivery and is caught deep point. Sri Lanka loses first wicket.

Kusal Mendis at three. He moves across, scoops the ball towards fine leg but an excellent dive saves a certain boundary.

Xavier Bartlett begins proceedings. A bit of swing for Bartlett, a couple of singles for Sri Lanka in three deliveries. Pathum Nissanka picks the ball and sends it over square leg for a six! What a terrific shot that. Eight runs from the over.

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There’s hardly any doubt as to which team will have its tails up at the half-way mark. Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh had blazed away to a fiery start. Both hit fifties and had Australia at 110 by the 10th over. But in the second set of 10 overs, Australia could manage just 71 runs more and lost eight wickets. The comeback sparked its spinners Dushan Hemantha and Dunith Wellalage.

But the job is still not done. Though the conditions will be easy to bat up front in the PowerPlay, there might be some purchase for the slower bowlers. But there is dew on the ground too which could come to the home team’s benefit.

Chameera to finish the innings. A hard length ball to Stoinis, blocks this to backward point. Two runs on the second to long off, it’s a no ball too so Australia gets an additional run.

Chameera executes a slower ball on the FREE HIT, beats Stoinis, no run.

GONE! Angling across from Stoinis, who heaves through the off side but only to get an outside edge to short third man.

Marcus Stoinis c Theekshana b Chameera 4(6)

Run out! Xavier Bartlett is OUT! Nathan Ellis misses his hack through the line but the Aussie pair tries to steal a bye. Kusal Mendis is on the mark from behind the stumps and spells the end of Bartlett.

Xavier Bartlett run out (Kusal Mendis) 0(3)

Adam Zampa gets a single on the final delivery through covers. He sets off for the second too and is run out at the striker’s end.

Adam Zampa run out (Kamindu Mendis) 1(1)

WICKET for Theekshana in his final over. Cooper Connolly is the victim. He plays a slog sweep but due to the turn ends up taking a leading edge to short third man.

Cooper Connolly c Perera b Theekshana 3(4)

Just two runs from this over and a wicket. Priceless at this stage!

Chameera once again. FOUR for Inglis, drives it straight down the ground.

WICKET! Chameera gets a crucial wicket on the fifth ball. He fires in a bouncer and Inglis is too slow on his pull shot. Gives a send off too.

Josh Inglis c Wellalage b Chameera 27(22)

OUT! Pathum Nissanka has taken a screamer here. He for sure makes up for the previous drop.

Hemantha gets his third wicket and it is the danger man Maxwell. He launches a switch hit but Nissanka leaps to his left at point and grabs this one-handed with right hand.

Glenn Maxwell c Nissanka b Hemantha 22(15)

Marcus Stoinis comes in at No. 7.

Chameera back into the attack. DROPPED! Maxwell has been given a life. How costly will that prove?

He wants to clear the boundary straight down again, but he gets this off the toe end of the bat. Pathum Nissanka comes in from the long on boundary but has the ball burst through his hands.

Inglis picks FOUR with a reverse ramp over short third man.

A big over for Australia, thanks to Maxwell. He picks a maximum down the ground, clears long on. Follows it up with a chip over covers for FOUR.

15 runs in this over.

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Five singles from Wellalage’s fourth and final over. Sri Lanka has finally managed to rein the scoring rate below 10 runs per over.

Kamindu Mendis into the attack.

WICKET! Australia middle order is collapsing like nine pins here. David is enticed once again by a slot ball, but he does not account for it holding off the surface, fluffs his heave to long off.

Tim David c Hemantha b Kamindu 6(5)

Maxwell is the next batter in, and boy does Australia need him to arrest this slide here.

FOUR for Tim David! He was gone had there been a slip fielder. He sees a full ball from Wellalage and swings hard at it, gets an edge past the keeper and even short third cannot cut it off.

Another wicket! Marsh departs in the same over he brings up his 25-ball half century.

A wrong one from Hemantha, jags back into Marsh who is playing a cut shot going by the line of the ball. The appeal is denied on field by SL takes the review and gets the verdict overturned.

Mitchell Marsh lbw b Hemantha 54(27)

Josh Inglis was a goner off his second ball but Kusal Mendis misses the stumping behind the stumps. Grip and turn away from the right hander.

Wellalage to Green, cuts to deep cover for one. Marsh drives the second to long on, another single.

Singles on the third and fourth balls, both to deep covers with cut shots.

WICKET! Green is stumped. Wellalage sees him charge down and fires this wide of off. Kusal Mendis does the rest.

Cameron Green st Kusal b Wellalage 3(7)

Hemantha for his second over. SIX! In the slot to Head, who clears his front leg and whacks this through midwicket.

WICKET on the very next ball. Hemantha floats this slightly wider, Head chases this and slices to long off.

Travis Head c Kamindu b Hemantha 56(29)

Cameron Green is the batter at No. 3. He gets a single to long off, one delivery after getting beaten by turn away and surviving a stumping appeal.

Another big over for Australia after Dunith Wellalage is brought on.

Marsh picks the first ball through covers for FOUR. He also lands a SIX over long off on the fifth delivery.

Head completes his 27-ball fifty in this over that gets Australia 13 runs.

Dushan Hemantha into the attack now. Head sweeps and an excellent at the deep square leg region cuts it down to just two runs. This time, he lofts the sweep shot and ball goes over midwicket for a six. Flighted delivery, Head waits and smacks towards cover for four. 14 runs from the over.

Theekshana for his third over. Marsh punches towards cover point and finds a four. Same shot, same result off the next delivery. Back-to-back fours. Now, a lofted a drive for four by Marsh. Wild swing off the bat. Four consecutive boundaries now. This time he sweeps it. Five in a row! Ends the over sending the ball towards cover.

Shanaka continues. Head begins the over with a huge six over midwicket. Pulled away nicely. Now Head makes room and punches past cover for another boundary. 12 runs from that over. 50-up for Australia.

Theekshana for his second. Head sweeps in the front of midwicket and finds the fence for four. Coming a touch slower. Now Marsh goes for a slog, gets an inside edge and luckily doesn’t chop on.

Matheesha Pathirana now. Good start from the slingy pacer, two runs off the first three balls. Pathirana seems to have pulled his hamstring. He’s down on the ground.

Dasun Shanaka will complete the over. Head smacks a four past the cover point.

Maheesh Theekshana from the other end. Head goes for a hard slash, gets a thick outside for four behind the keeper. This time, Head drive through the cover for four. A misfield gets Marsh on strike.

Dushmantha Chameera with the new ball. Marsh takes strike and defends the first ball. Powerful backfoot drive off the second ball and it goes for four towards cover region. Steals a quick single off the third. Head whips the ball away towards midwicket for four to begin his innings. Marsh ends the over with a six over long on. Pulls it away off the hard length.

Done with national anthems. Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head open the innings.

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Australia: Mitchell Marsh (c), Travis Head, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Cooper Connolly, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa.

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis (wk), Pavan Rathnayake, Dasun Shanaka (c), Kamindu Mendis, Dunith Wellalage, Dushan Hemantha, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana.

Dasun Shanaka wins the toss and opts to bowl against Australia.

Best pitch to bat on in Sri Lanka. Water has been sprayed on this surface, it is nicely rolled, the grass is dry and the surface is hard. The ball will come on the bat easily. 172 will be the par score. It won’t have pace, it will be on the slower side but better to bat on than the other grounds.

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The T20 World Cup 2026 match between Australia and Sri Lanka will be televised live in India on the Star Sports Network TV channels.

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The T20 World Cup 2026 match between Australia and Sri Lanka will be streamed live in India on the JioHotstar app and website.

Australia: Josh Inglis (wk), Travis Head (c), Cameron Green, Tim David, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Matthew Kuhnemann, Mitchell Marsh, Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly.

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis (wk), Pavan Rathnayake, Dasun Shanaka (c), Kamindu Mendis, Dunith Wellalage, Dushan Hemantha, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Kusal Perera, Charith Asalanka, Pramod Madushan, Janith Liyanage.

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