AUS vs SL

We have reached the end of this thrilling contest. Sri Lanka advance through to the Super 8 stage, leaving Australia on the brink of an early exit. The battle for the Super 8 heats up, and we will be back to entertain you again tomorrow. For now, this is Datrim Ray signing off on behalf of Bidipto Datta. Cheers!

Dasun Shanaka (Sri Lanka captain): "Yeah, one of the best performances in recent times. Happy with how things went. See, we were very positive after losing Pathirana in the powerplay. We had the confidence. We knew the wicket very well. Everyone wanted to contribute somehow. Happy with how we pulled things back. Missing Hasaranga and Pathirana are a huge miss. Luckily, we have a cover for Hasaranga. If he were there, it would have been very different. Unfortunately, we can't control that. But all we can do is take the good things away from a game (His thoughts on Australia's position at the halfway stage). No, actually. When we opted to bowl first, everyone had opinions. But the group was confident. The boundaries are generally short here. We felt that if we kept them under 180, then we would have a chance. (How does it feel to see a Q against their name?) It feels good; after so many years, we are able to qualify for a global event. We must thank the entire crowd for rooting for us tonight." (The crowd greets him with cheers and claps.)

Mitchell Marsh (Australia captain): "I thought that it was a competitive total at the halfway mark, but, we were a few runs short. However, well played to Sri Lanka, they deserved this win. We lost our way towards the back-end with the bat, and Sri Lanka bowled well. We needed partnerships in that phase. It's a devastated group! We now have to depend on other results, we'll watch the Zimbabwe-Ireland match, but, we're really disheartened!" 

Pathum Nissanka (Player of the Match, 100* off 52 balls, and, a stunning catch at backward point to dismiss Glenn Maxwell): "The wicket was pretty good today and that he felt great scoring the hundred to win his team the game! We needed a good powerplay, and my partnership with Kusal Mendis helped a lot! Usually it's a bit easier in Pallekele, chasing. There wasn't much dew to be honest. I waited for the ball to come to me, and backed my strengths!" 

10:21 PM local time (10:21 PM IST): Sri Lanka win by 8 wickets.

Travis Head - 56 (29) | Marcus Stoinis - 2/46
Pathum Nissanka -  100 (52)   I Dushan Hemantha - 3/37

A STUNNING RUN CHASE FROM SRI LANKA! NISSANKA TAKES SRI LANKA TO A FAMOUS WORLD CUP WIN! They hammer Australia left, right, and center in Pallekele! Australia’s Super 8 hopes have been dashed considerably! Sri Lanka didn’t get the best of starts. Perera was dismissed early in his innings as he looked to take on the Aussie pace attack early doors. Despite that early setback, Nissanka gave Sri Lanka the early momentum. Kusal joined the party soon enough to help Sri Lanka’s scoring effort through the early phase of the powerplay. By the end of 6 overs, Sri Lanka were roaring at 61/1. Once the powerplay ended, Sri Lanka managed to deal in singles, effectively turning the strike over to maintain a steady scoring rate. The partnership between Kusal and Nissanka proved to be a very defining moment of the run chase. It’s the massive 98-run stand for the second wicket, which gave SL a solid foundation to chase down the mammoth target.

Sri Lanka did manage a scare, however, when Nissanka was struck down with a yorker from Ellis on 45. But after the magic spray, Nissanka sprang back on his feet and continued on his merry way, eventually notching up his fifty in 32 balls. Kusal took as few as 35 balls to register a well-controlled fifty, which further enhanced Sri Lanka’s position during the middle phase of the run chase. Stoinis toiled hard with the ball and emerged as the lone warrior for his side. He picked up the first two wickets for Australia initially and tried to keep them in the hunt. But Nissanka carried on unfazed after reaching his fifty and continued to pile up the misery for the visitors.

Rathnayake was able to dazzle the Aussies with his late spark with the willow, adding a whirlwind 28 in no time to help SL bridge the gap between balls and runs required. Nissanka ultimately sealed the deal for Sri Lanka with a blazing 52-ball 100. Plenty of soul-searching needs to be done by Australia. They had the perfect start possible but could only manage 30 runs at the expense of 6 wickets in their last 5 overs. That has made a huge difference in the result today. Australia are not entirely out of this yet. But destiny will no longer be in their hands, and they will need the assistance of other teams to bail them out. 

17.6 Adam Zampa to Pavan Rathnayake, SRI LANKA ARE IN THE SUPER 8s! Good length, slow and around off-stump. Pavan moved across his stumps, sat down and hammered it in the gap to the right of deep backward square-leg! What a superb win, from a position of almost no hope earlier in the 1st innings! 

17.5 Adam Zampa to Pathum Nissanka, PATHUM NISSANKA, TAKE A BOW! WHAT A CENTURY! Short and slow on off-stump. Nissanka punches it around to wide long-on, off the backfoot, for a single to rotate strike. The celebrations can begin in Pallekele! 

17.4 Adam Zampa to Pathum Nissanka, full and slow on off, a leg-break here. Scooped off the front foot to the long-on area for a well-run two! 

17.3 Adam Zampa to Pathum Nissanka, FOUR! Good length and on off-stump. Heaved from down on one knee, to the left of deep backward square and right of deep mid-wicket! 

17.1 Adam Zampa to Pathum Nissanka, FOUR RUNS! Good length and slow on off-stump. Nissanka sits down and slogs it over the in-field, down to the vacant deep square area! 

16.6 Nathan Ellis to Pathum Nissanka, full and wide outside off. Nissanka square-drives it on the up to deep cover point, to pick up a single and retain strike. 

16.5 Nathan Ellis to Pathum Nissanka, SIX RUNS! Good length and on the stumps. Nissanka just shuffled across and used the pace to help it away over fine-leg, for a flat maximum! 

16.5 Nathan Ellis to Pathum Nissanka, WIDE! Good length and well away from the off-stump. In fact, it is beyond the tramline! So, it's an extra again! 

Are we prepared to witness the biggest upset of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026? Australia is looking very vulnerable at this stage. But we have seen Sri Lanka throw it away from winning situations. So the game is by no means over just yet but advantage Sri Lanka!