A solid fifties from Dasun Shanaka, Pavan Rathnayake, and Kusal Mendis stunned Oman in the Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 game at Pallekele.
Their knocks powered Sri Lanka to 225 in a 20-over innings, and a brilliant bowling performance helped the hosts to a mammoth 105-run win over Oman.
After being invited to bat first, Pathum Nissanka and Kamil Mishara opened the innings while Shah Faisal opened the bowling attack.
Despite the openers being dismissed for 13 and 8 within the power play, Sri Lanka scored 58 runs in the first 6 overs.
However, Kusal Mendis and Pavan Rathnayake made a solid partnership as they helped Sri Lanka score 136 runs for the third wicket.
Pavan Rathnayake made a flashy 60 runs off 28 deliveries, which included 8 fours and 1 six, before being dismissed by Jiten Ramanandi.
Kusal Mendis added 61 runs off 45 deliveries before being dismissed on a runout. Dasun Shanaka also added 50 runs off 20 deliveries, who was the second victim to Jiten Ramanandi’s delivery in this game.
Pavan Rathnayake’s dominant fifty propelled Sri Lanka to a win against Oman in #T20WorldCup 💪
He wins the @aramco POTM 🥇 pic.twitter.com/XTbNrhfppM
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) February 12, 2026
Ramnandi bagged two wickets while Sufyan Mehmood and Jay Odedra picked one wicket each. Chasing 226 runs, Aamir Kaleem and Jatinder Singh opened the innings while Dushmantha Chameera opened the bowling attack.
Dushmantha Chameera bagged the first wicket of Jatinder Singh, while Maheesh Theekshana bagged the wicket of Aamir Kaleem for 6 runs.
Hammad Mirza scored 9 runs before Chameera got dismissed. However, Nadeem made a stunning fifty while Wasim Ali added 27 runs.
However, others got dismissed at regular intervals for single-digit overs. By the end of 20 overs, Oman scored 120 runs for 9 wickets.
Dushmantha Chameera and Maheesh Theekshana bagged two wickets each while Dunith Wellalage, Dushan Hemantha and Kamindu Mendis completed with a wicket tally.
Pavan Rathnayake was named the player of the match. Speaking at the post-match conference, he said, “I like to play spin, but I always try to protect my style. I like both spin and pace. The game went very well. Everyone supports each other, and everyone is doing well. So in the next game, we will try to do our best.”
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