Pallekele, Feb. 17 -- The co-hosts Sri Lanka defeated Australia by eight wickets in their group-stage fixture at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Monday, entering the Super Eights and putting the Mitch Marsh-led side on the brink of elimination from the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026.

Pathum Nissanka's unbeaten ton off just 52 balls helped Sri Lanka chase down a daunting target of 182 runs, which is also the highest successful run-chase for Sri Lanka in T20 World Cups. That was also the highest successful run-chase against Australia in the T20 World Cups.

The 27-year-old Nissanka was named Player of the Match for scoring the first century of the tournament. This was also the first time that someone had hit a century against ...