Sri Lanka’s bowling attack devastated Oman’s batting lineup in Pallekele, successfully protecting an imposing score of 225/4 during their 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup Group B fixture, securing victory by 105 runs. As expected favourites, the co-hosts established control immediately, with their batting unit’s precise execution complemented by a devastating bowling performance. Led by Dushmantha Chameera’s pace attack and Maheesh Theekshana’s enigmatic spin bowling, the Islanders dismantled Oman’s batting lineup comprehensively, essentially deciding the match’s outcome shortly after the innings transition.
The batting performance featured three commanding half-centuries that maximised ideal playing conditions. Pavan Rathnayake ignited the innings, hammering a destructive 26-ball 60 that featured the second-quickest fifty in Sri Lankan T20 World Cup records. Kusal Mendis maintained this intensity, stabilising the innings with a polished 61, while captain Dasun Shanaka delivered the decisive blows. Shanaka’s explosive late-innings contribution secured him a rapid 50, establishing an intimidating target that remained well beyond Oman’s capabilities.
TOSS
Oman secured the toss and elected to bowl first.
PLAYING XI
Sri Lanka (Playing XI):
Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis(w), Pavan Rathnayake, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka(c), Dushan Hemantha, Dunith Wellalage, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana
Oman (Playing XI):
Aamir Kaleem, Jatinder Singh(c), Hammad Mirza, Wasim Ali, Mohammad Nadeem, Jiten Ramanandi, Vinayak Shukla(w), Sufyan Mehmood, Nadeem Khan, Shah Faisal, Jay Odedra
SRI LANKA
The pivotal moment arrived during the sixth over’s commencement after Sri Lanka were invited to bat. Sufyan Mehmood, commencing his bowling stint, dismissed Pathum Nissanka leg before wicket for 13. Following both opening batsmen’s early departures, Sri Lanka found themselves struggling at 42 for 2.
Nevertheless, Rathnayake prevented the hosts from remaining under pressure. He struck three boundaries from the subsequent four balls, dramatically reversing the momentum. During the following five overs, Sri Lanka approached their aggressive intent with measured precision. Except for the 10th over, where Wasim Ali delivered multiple no-balls and conceded 17 runs, Sri Lanka’s boundary accumulation remained controlled. By this stage, however, their partnership had expanded to 72 runs, and with substantial batting depth remaining, both players accelerated their scoring rate.
Kusal Mendis surely started the 13th over well by hitting Mehmood’s ball over short fine for a boundary. Moreover, Rathanayake then scored three boundaries in a row, with the first one helping him complete his fifty runs. Moreover, he was dismissed in the next over and we are seeing Oman controlling the scoring for some time only. Dasun Shanaka, the fresh batsman, surely began to play aggressive shots. Moreover, he started scoring runs freely after coming to the crease. In the following two overs, he surely hit five sixes and two boundaries to complete his half-century in just 19 balls. Moreover, this was the fastest fifty scored by any Sri Lankan player in T20 international matches.
Jiten Ramanandi actually took two wickets in the second-last over, but Kamindu Mendis definitely finished strong with two big sixes to end Sri Lanka’s batting.
OMAN-
The huge target was actually always going to be very tough for Oman, and they definitely never looked like they could reach it. We are seeing Dushmantha Chameera and Maheesh Theekshana bowling together to make the team score only 36 runs for 3 wickets in the PowerPlay, with the top three batsmen getting out for single-digit scores. For a short time only, Mohammad Nadeem and Wasim Ali were fighting with the bat in different ways, but we are seeing they were not close to the needed run rate. Their 42-run partnership in the middle overs actually helped Oman reach a decent total. The remaining batters definitely struggled, as none of them could score more than four runs.
Basically, Wasim got out caught behind off Theekshana in the 12th over, and the umpire made the same weird decision very late. That dismissal surely caused a complete breakdown as Oman lost four wickets in just 13 balls. Moreover, this collapse included two run outs that made their situation even worse.
Nadeem actually fought alone but could not win, and he definitely got support from the last two batters Jay Odedra and Shah Faisal when he made his fifty runs and helped Oman finish their batting time.
Brief Scores:
We are seeing Sri Lanka making 225 runs with only 5 wickets lost in 20 overs, where Kusal Mendis scored 61, Pavan Rathnayake made 60, and Dasun Shanaka got 50 runs, while Jiten Ramanandi took 2 wickets for 41 runs. Sri Lanka won by 105 runs against Oman who could make only 120 runs losing 9 wickets, with Mohammad Nadeem scoring 53 not out and
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