Nissanka bats Sri Lanka into Super 8s with sensational century

Pathum Nissanka celebrates a sensational hundred against the Aussies

 Australia pushed to the brink of elimination from T20 World Cup

PALLEKELE: Pathum Nissanka could not have picked a better occasion to return to his best form when he cracked an unbeaten 100 off 52 balls to steer Sri Lanka to an emphatic eight-wicket victory against Australia and a place in the T20 World Cup Super-Eights.

The Group B match played to a packed Pallekele International Cricket Stadium yesterday saw Sri Lanka chase down Australia’s total of 181 by scoring 184-2 to win with 12 balls to spare.

It was Sri Lanka’s highest successful run chase in T20 World Cups, the highest successful run chases against Australia in T20 World Cups and the first time Sri Lanka had chased 180 plus against a team other than Bangladesh/Zimbabwe in T20Is. It was also the highest successful run chase in T20Is at this venue beating the 177 by Sri Lanka against Australia in June 2022.

Sri Lanka’s win has put Australia on the edge of elimination. Everything hinges on today’s match between Zimbabwe and Ireland at Pallekele. Australia will be eliminated if Zimbabwe beats Ireland.

But back to Nissanka. What an astonishing display of batting – an innings that cannot be described but needs to be seen to be believed. 

The thousands who thronged the stadium were given their money’s worth after that one-sided affair between Asian rivals India and Pakistan the previous night. Nissanka’s knock is what dreams are made of. It was jaw dropping stuff. He made the Australians grovel and dance to his tune as he took them by the scruff of their necks to smack 10 fours and 5 sixes. Nissanka’s 52-ball knock is the first century in T20 World Cups against Australia, the previous highest being Umar Akmal’s 94 in Mirpur in 2014. Nissanka is also the first Sri Lankan to score two hundreds for his country in T20 Internationals.  

That it was Nissanka’s day there was no doubt. He spilled a simple chance offered by Glenn Maxwell at mid-on but made up for it shortly with a stunning catch offered by the same batsman. He took the Player of the Match award.

However, nothing should be taken away from Kusal Mendis and Pavan Rathnayake either. Mendis registered his third consecutive fifty in the tournament (51 off 38 balls, 6 fours, 1 six). He was the aggressor in his 97-run stand, off 66 balls with Nissanka. Rathnayake then walked in at what could have been a tricky juncture, batted like he had been batting in the nets all day scoring 28* off 15 balls (6 fours) and helped Nissanka see his team home with an unbroken partnership of 79 off 34 balls.

Following the defeat at the hands of Zimbabwe, it was another night to forget for Australia. Their bowling lacked penetration and like the other day, they could only pick up two wickets as they saw their score of 182 being razed down with consummate ease.

Sri Lanka made an incredible turnaround in the second half of the innings after Australia had raced to 100 in just 8.2 overs. At that point 220-240 looked well within their reach. But the spinners dragged things back superbly to restrict them to 181. The return of Mitchell Marsh provided an early lift and that momentum rubbed off on Travis Head. The pair went hard from the outset, powering to 70 in the powerplay and raising a 100-run stand (104 off 51 balls). But once Head fell for 56 (29 balls, 7 fours, 3 sixes), the innings lost direction. Marsh followed soon after for 54 off 27 balls (8 fours, 2 sixes) and Australia slipped from a position of dominance to losing 4 for 26. Glenn Maxwell (22 off 15) and Josh Inglis (27 off 22) tried to steady things, but the tempo had dipped and the finish lacked bite.

The Lankan spinners took control of the innings as Dushan Hemantha, Maheesh Theekshana and Dunith Wellalage tightened the grip on the Australian batting. Theekshana’s figures of 1/37 included five consecutive fours hit by Marsh in one over.  

Sri Lanka were dealt an early blow when Matheesha Pathirana walked off injured in the third over suffering from a left calf strain, but that didn’t halt their fightback. Hemantha was the standout with 3/37, making a strong comeback after being hit for 45 runs in his T20 World Cup debut match against Oman. Dushmantha Chameera returned strongly in his second spell to close things out as Australia lost their last six wickets for 21 runs.

Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis added 97 off 66 balls for the second wicket

Mitchell Marsh made a fifty on return to the team

Pathum Nissanka takes a stunning catch to dismiss Glenn Maxwell

Dushan Hemantha came back strongly to take three crucial Australian wickets

Travis Head carves one through the off side