Tuesday 17 / February / 2026
Pallekele: Following his side's win over Australia, which sealed their spot in the Super Eights, Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka lauded his side's "high body anguage" despite losing pacer Matheesha Pathirana due to an injury scare just four overs into his spell.
After a poor group stage exit last year, Sri Lanka marched into the Super Eights undefeated, downing the mighty Australians courtesy a masterclass century from Pathum Nissanka and fine bowling spells from Dushan Hemantha and Dushmantha Chameera.
"One of the best performances in the recent past. Happy about the way the first innings went. We were still very positive after losing Pathirana. Had the confidence. Knew about the wicket as well. Each and every one showed high body language. Everybody wanted to contribute somehow. Missing Hasaranga and now Pathirana is a big miss," Shanaka said.
"I know there were a lot of chats when we opted to bowl. Our group was confident. Boundaries are comparatively short. Wonderful (qualifying for Super Eights). Hopefully, we will make it to the semis as well. Must thank the crowd," he added.
Australia skipper Mitchell Marsh was disappointed that his side "losing their way" despite a century stand between him and Travis Head to start things, and said they are essentially in "the laps of Gods". A Zimbabwe win against Ireland on Tuesday will rule them out in the group stage itself.
"Well, I thought it was a competitive total at the halfway mark. There is no doubt that we probably left ourselves a few short after the start that we had. So that's disappointing, but well played to Sri Lanka, they outplayed us tonight. We know that at our best, we can make big scores. And we just lost our way a little bit there towards the back-end. Could not get a partnership going, and Sri Lanka bowled really well towards the back-end of their innings. So, coming off, we knew we were a few short," he reflected on their batting performance.
Marsh added that the team is "devastated" and is going through a lot of emotions right now because they are not at their best.
"It is a devastated group. We're in the lap of the Gods now, I think, with the way it's shaped up. But yeah, look, there is a lot of emotion in the rooms right now. We have not been at our best. And so, yeah, we watch the Zimbabwe-Ireland game with, and we hope.... But yeah, we are a disappointed bunch at the moment," he concluded.
Nissanka, the 'Player of the Match' said that the team needed a good power play, and a fine 97-run stand with Kusal Mendis helped them.
"Usually it is a bit easier chasing at Pallekele, and the wicket did seem to get a bit better. Not much dew. It was just waiting for the ball to come to his strengths, and I am happy to have got several of those balls to those strengths and then was able to hit those boundaries," he concluded.
Pathum Nissanka's unbeaten ton off just 52 balls helped Sri Lanka chase down a daunting target of 182 runs, which is also the highest successful run-chase for Sri Lanka in T20 World Cups. That was also the highest successful run-chase against Australia in the T20 World Cups.
The 27-year-old Nissanka was named Player of the Match for scoring the first century of the tournament. This was also the first time that someone had hit a century against Australia in a T20 World Cup match. The previous highest score was 94 by Pakistan's Umar Akmal in 2014 at Mirpur.
This was only the third time a Sri Lankan side had defeated Australia in a World Cup. The first came in the 1996 ODI World Cup Final in Lahore, and the second in Nottingham at the 2009 T20 World Cup.
Nissanka's 52-ball ton was the joint-second fastest century by a Sri Lankan batter in T20Is. He equalled his earlier record of a 52-ball ton, which he made against India in Dubai last year. Kusal Perera has the record for the fastest T20I ton by a Sri Lankan batter, which he made against New Zealand in just 44 balls last year in Nelson.
Nissanka's unbeaten century was the second hundred by a Sri Lankan batter in the T20 World Cups. The first ton was hit by former captain Mahela Jayawardene (100) against Zimbabwe in the 2010 edition.
In 87 matches and 86 innings, Nissanka has scored 2,574 runs at an average of 31.77, with a strike rate of 128.63, with two centuries and 18 fifties and a best score of 107.
