Sri Lanka vs Ireland Highlights, T20 World Cup 2026: SL begin campaign with victory, beat IRE by 20 runs in Colombo

Matheesha Pathirana to bowl the final over. George Dockrell starts the over with a couple. FOUR! Full and driven through mid-off by Dockrell. Good shot to get a consolation boundary. OUT! Dockrell lofts, finds Kamindu Mendis at sweeper cover. Matthew Humphreys is the last man in for Ireland. OUT! CLEANED UP! Pathirana hits the top of off, and Ireland are being bundled out for 143, 20 runs short in the end. A comprehensive win for the home side, and they start the T20 World Cup 2026 campaign with a strong win.

Dockrell c Kamindu Mendis b Pathirana 9(7); Humphreys b Pathirana 0(2)

Ireland: 143 all out in 19.5 overs; Lost by 20 runs

Wanindu Hasaranga with his last over. OUT! Ireland's last hope, Curtis Campher, falls now. Sri Lanka are bossing the proceedings here. Ireland batters are looking completely clueless at the moment. Campher lofts it straight to Dasun Shanaka at long-off. Seven from the over. Required rate is 18 runs per over.

Curtis Campher c Shanaka b Hasaranga 13(11)

Ireland: 128/7 in 18 overs; Need 36 runs from 12 balls

Wanindu Hasaranga returns. Ireland need another partnership here. OUT! No, they are not getting a partnership this time. Hasaranga gets the big wicket, removing the set batter Harry Tector. Benjamin Calitz is the new batter. Just four runs from this over.

Harry Tector c Pavan Rathnayake b Hasaranga 40(34)

Ireland: 117/4 in 16 overs; Neeed 47 runs from 24 balls

Maheesh Theekshana returns to the attack. FOUR! Tucker is gaining confidence. After slamming Hasaranga for a four in the previous over, he begins this over with a boundary. Outside off, length ball from Theekshana, slashes hard past point by Tucker. Tector and Tucker display tremendous fitness and converts single to doubles on two back-to-back occasions to pile on the pressure. 10 from this over. Ireland are past 100 as well.

Ireland: 104/2 in 14 overs; Need 60 runs from 36 balls

Dunith Wellalage with his third over. The pair of Harry Tector and Lorcan Tucker are certainly not in a mood to rush into the chase. They are biding their time, looking to consolidate here in Colombo. Perhaps two more overs and then they can look to cash in. For now, it's a waiting game for them. Six off the over.

Ireland: 84/2 in 11 overs; Need 80 runs from 48 balls

Matheesha Pathirana returns. Tucker fails to capitalise on the low full-toss; all he can manage is a single. Tector then gets a two before the duo get a single each in the next two deliveries. FOUR! Flicks it fine, and the inside-edge works this time to get Ireland a much-needed boundary.

Ireland: 72/2 in 10 overs

Dunith Wellalage continues. Four singles, a couple and a wide make this a seven-run over.

Wanindu Hasaranga comes into the attack from the other end. OUT! WICKET to Hasaranga! Ross Adair goes for a wild swipe and has been cleaned up by a ball that kept straight.

Ross Adair b Hasaranga 34(23)

Ireland: 56/2 in 8 overs

First change in the bowling attack. Dunith Wellalage to bowl the fifth over. Just a single off the first three deliveries. SIX! Well connected, good sound off the bat and first maximum off the over. Adair brings out a slogsweep for the maximum. Seven from this over.

Ireland: 34/1 in 5 overs

Dushmantha Chameera with his second. He starts with a WIDE down the leg. Another single via leg byes for Paul Stirling. Adair follows it up with another single. FOUR! Slower one, Stirling slams it at mid-wicket. FOUR! Third straight over, which ends with a boundary from Adair. 12 from this over.

Ireland: 24/0 in 3 overs

Dushmantha Chameera bowls from over the wicket. Paul Stirling has the strike. One slip at a place. Stirling manages to get off the mark with a single off the fourth delivery after playing three dots. Ross is cramped for room, as Chameera keeps the line in the middle. FOUR! Pace off, but Adair manages to put it in the gap to get off the mark with a boundary. Five off the first over.

Ireland: 5/0 in 1 over

Mark Adair with the last over of the innings. FOUR! He brings up his half-century with a boundary. Reads the slower once and slams it at mid-wicket for a boundary to start the final over. A dot to follow. Two singles off the next two deliveries. Adair looks to deceive Kusal with a bouncer but ends up bowling a WIDE. Another slower one, pace off delivery and Kusal pulls it hard but could only manage a couple off the last bowl. A good over from Adair, as only 9 come from this over. SL manage 163.

Sri Lanka: 163/6 in 20 overs

Pace back. Mark Adair returns to the attack. Kusal Mendis has been DROPPED! Oh my goodness. Buttery hands? Slippery hands? What's going on, Irish fielders? They have been horrendous in the outfield. Not sure if it's the floodlights that are causing the problem but you need to grab these catches to build on the momentum from the spinners. Poor, very poor from Ireland. FOUR! Way outside of offstumps and Kusal Mendis shuffles across, finds the vacant gap at deep backward point to end the over with a boundary. 10 from the over.

Sri Lanka: 135/4 in 18 overs

Gareth Delany with his last over. FOUR! Finally, a boundary after ages. After 57 deliveries to be precise. Kamindu goes for a reverse and lifts it over the short third man for a boundary. A much-needed, welcome boundary for the hosts, which reaches the 100-run mark with the shot. Nine from this over.

Sri Lanka: 104/4 in 16 overs

Gareth Delany returns to the attack. Wellalage starts with a single. A dot for Kusal Mendis. He also survives a big LBW scare. After being given out by the on-field umpire, a faint margin as the ball was missing the stumps helps him overturn the decision. OUT! Wellalage falls now. A tossed-up delivery, looks like a googly and Wellalage mishits, finding Dockrell at mid-wicket. Ireland continue to dent this Sri Lanka innings over after over. Top-notch bowling combined with some ordinary batting from the hosts. Kamindu Mendis joins Kusal Mendis, who starts with a couple off the last delivery of this over.

Wellalage c Dockrell b Delany 10(13)

Sri Lanka: 88/4 in 14 overs

Spin continues, but it's Harry Tector who has been introduced into the attack. Another quiet over, just three singles and a two fetch Sri Lanka five from this over.

Sri Lanka: 76/3 in 12 overs

After Dockrell, it's Gareth Delany with his second straight over. Sri Lanka are going in their shell right now. They are not charging down, not actively looking to get boundaries, and it's been four overs since a boundary has come for the hosts. Another good over from a spinner as Sri Lanka manage just five runs from this one. At halfway mark, the hosts have managed 68.

Sri Lanka: 68/2 in 10 overs

Spin from both ends now. Gareth Delany, the right-arm leg-spinner, is into the attack now. Sri Lanka have been uncharacteristically quiet after the PowerPlay. The extra fielders outside the 30-yard circle is working in favour of Ireland at the moment. Another over where batters limit themselves to singles and doubles. One two and five singles make a 7-run over.

Sri Lanka: 61/1 in 8 overs

Change of ends for Barry McCarthy, who will bowl the final over of the Powerplay. FOUR! Kusal Mendis gets in his act now. Not a bad delivery from McCarthy, but it's the class of Kusal who gets a boundary off this one. Just helps himself by playing through the square leg. FOUR! This time it's short, and Kusal pounces on it, clearing the mid-on region for his second boundary of the over. FOUR! What a way to end the over and the Powerplay. Quite short this time, and it has enough room for Mendi,s who slashes it towards the deep point for his third boundary off the over. Sri Lanka get to 50 as well. This is a good start.

Sri Lanka: 50/1 in 6 overs

Mark Adair with his second over. Good start from the pacer who starts with three dots. He cramps Nissanka, who almost pulls straight to the man at deep mid, but it lands just short of the fielder. Sri Lanka are riding on their luck at the moment. Just one off the first four deliveries. Dot again. Brilliant over this from Adair. OUT! And Ireland finally gets their man. Adair provides them with the breakthrough. Slower one, which does the trick for them. He almost sticks to the surface, deceiving Mishara, who just opens his bat and finds Barry McCarthy at mid-off. Wonderful over comes to an end for Ireland. Just one run and a wicket off this over.

Kamil Mishara c McCarthy b Mark Adair 14(11)

Sri Lanka: 28/1 in 4 overs

Right-arm pacer Mark Adair has the new ball from the other end. He starts from over the wicket against Nissanka. FOUR! First boundary for Sri Lanka. Length delivery, shapes away, and Nissanka punches through covers for a boundary. A single puts Mishara on strike. Adair bowls a WIDE before Mishara manages a couple off the following delivery. FOUR! Full and in the middle, just a hint of movement as the ball moves in for the left-hander and Mishara times his flick towards mid-wicket for a boundary, his first off this innings. Good over, 13 off it for SL.

Sri Lanka: 18/0 in 2 overs

Pathum Nissanka and Kamil Mishara open for Sri Lanka. Spinner Matthew Humphreys to start things for Ireland.

Paul Stirling: We are going to bowl first tonight. It’s slightly different from the last time we were here. It looks a little bit drier, but it looks like a good wicket. It’s pretty hard and firm, so we’ll see what we can do with the new ball here and see if we can chase down whatever they set. I think we need to be at our best and that’s pretty much it. We’ve had a good build-up, preparation has been excellent, so we’re ready to get off and get things started here at the Premadasa. We’ve got good all-round options in the middle and we’ve picked the extra batter tonight, so hopefully that’ll come in handy towards the back end of the game.

Dasun Shanaka: Seems like a very good track, so anything over 170 will be very good on this pitch. I think we’ve got a lot of areas covered coming into the World Cup. Yes, we tested some players previously, in the England series and the previous tours, but we are settled here with five bowlers and five quality batsmen, so happy to proceed. Very much excited and very happy. You know, home World Cup, so everyone is excited.

Paul Stirling won the toss for Ireland and they are going to field first vs Sri Lanka in Colombo.

England set Nepal a stiff target of 185 in Mumbai. In reply, Nepal got off to a brisk start with Kushal Bhurtel leading the charge, but Liam Dawson dismissed Aasif Sheikh to give England a first breakthrough. Nonetheless, an exciting game is underway at Wankhede.