Pathum Nissanka hits first century of T20 World Cup 2026; Australia on the verge of being knocked out in group stage

This was the first time that any batter across the world scored a century against Australia in the T20 World Cups. The previous best score for any batter against the team in the competition was 94 by Pakistan's Umar Akmal.

This chase of 182 is Sri Lanka's highest successful run chase in T20 World Cups, and it is also the highest run chase by any team against Australia in the competition's history.

Speaking of Nissanka's knock, he was calm and composed through the entire duration of his stay at the crease. Sri Lanka's chase of 182 started off on a bad note as opening batter Kusal Perera lost his wicket in just the second over. However, from there on, Nissanka found support in Kusal Mendis and the duo formed a stand of 97 runs for the second wicket, with the latter scoring 51.

Mendis lost his wicket against the run of play off the bowling of Marcus Stoinis. However, Nissanka ensured that the team get over the line. He also got support in Pavan Rathnayake, who played an unbeaten 28-run knock of 15 balls. In the end, the co-hosts of the tournament cruised home with eight wickets in hand and 12 balls to spare, sealing their berth in the Super 8s.

For Sri Lanka, Dushan Hemantha turned out to be the game-changer as he returned with three wickets, taking the scalps of Marsh, Head and Glenn Maxwell (22).

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