Pallekele (Sri Lanka), February 16 Sri Lanka delivered a dominant performance, led by Pathum Nissanka's outstanding unbeaten century, to defeat Australia by eight wickets in a group league match of the T20 World Cup and advance to the Super Eight stage here on Monday.
Chasing a target of 182, Nissanka (100 off 52 balls) put immense pressure on the Australian bowlers with an innings that included 10 fours and five sixes. He then added 97 for the second wicket with Kusal Mendis (51 off 38 balls) as Sri Lanka completed the chase with two overs to spare.
Earlier, captain Mitchell Marsh's 54 and Travis Head's 56 had taken Australia to 104/0 before they were eventually bowled out for 181, primarily due to the efforts of the Sri Lankan spinners.
Leg-spinner Dushan Hemantha took three wickets for 37, while pacer Dushmantha Chameera also claimed two wickets. The last four wickets fell for just six runs.
Brief Scores: Australia 181 all out in 20 overs (Mitchell Marsh 54, Travis Head 56, Dushan Hemantha 3/37) lost to Sri Lanka 184/2 in 18 overs by 8 wickets (Pathum Nissanka 100 not out, Kusal Mendis 51).
