AUS vs SL: Pathum Nissanka historic century, Sri Lanka entered Super-8 by defeating Australia by 8 wickets

By Samira Vishwas On Feb 17, 2026

Sri Lanka beat Australia by 8 Wickets: The excellent performance of the Sri Lankan cricket team continues in the T20 World Cup. The team took its campaign forward and registered a big win in the tournament by defeating Australia by 8 wickets. In this match, Australia batted first and scored 181 runs after losing all the wickets in 20 overs, but Sri Lanka displayed excellent batting and achieved the target in 18 overs and won the match.

Marsh and Head’s half-century innings

For Australia, openers Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head gave the team a strong start. Both the batsmen scored fast and scored half-centuries and made a partnership of more than 100 runs for the first wicket. Marsh scored 54 runs in 27 balls, which included eight fours and two sixes. Whereas Travis Head played an innings of 56 runs in 29 balls and hit seven fours and three sixes. However, after the dismissal of these two, the Australian innings faltered and none of the middle-order batsmen could play a big innings. For this reason, instead of reaching close to 200, the team was limited to 181 runs. Now Australia’s path to progress in the tournament seems difficult and according to the equations, there is a possibility that their journey will end here.

Pathum Nissanka’s historic century

Opener Pathum Nissanka gave a great start to the Sri Lankan team chasing the target. Nissanka created history by playing an unbeaten inning of 100 runs in this match. Facing 52 balls, he hit 10 fours and 5 sixes. With this century, he became the second Sri Lankan batsman after Sanath Jayasuriya to score a century in the T20 World Cup.

The hero of the night, Pathum Nissanka, finishes an incredible chase with an unbeaten 100*! A clinical performance to take down the Aussies. 🏏💯#LionsRoar #SLvAUS #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/9viyZZFTxf
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) February 16, 2026

Mendis and Ratnayake also made important contributions

Apart from Nissanka, Kusal Mendis also made the team’s victory easy by scoring 51 runs in 38 balls. Whereas Pawan Ratnayake played an important role in ending the match early by playing a quick inning of 28 runs in 15 balls. Only Marcus Stoinis could make an impact in Australia’s bowling, who took two wickets, while other bowlers could not achieve any success.

Also read: Will there be a great clash between India and Pakistan again in T20 World Cup 2026? Here is the equation

Sri Lanka reached Super-8

With this victory, Sri Lanka has made its place in the race for Super 8. Whereas Zimbabwe is expected to advance as the second team from the group. Now it remains to be seen how this equation changes in the future matches.