🏏ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026:M 6: SL vs Ireland, Colombo 🏏 - Page 6

Congratulations to Mendis, FOUR, swatted across the line, found the gap, and brought up fifty!

Target for Ireland-- 164

SL 163-6(20)

CRR:8.15

SL has finished with 163/6.

Sri Lanka will take that. Oh, they will take that. Especially after the innings came to a standstill between overs 7-14. Runs came at a trickle and Ireland had the squeeze on. But then Kamindu arrived. And then Ireland began dropping catches and making mistakes. Kamindu turned on the heat, turbocharged the innings and changed the momentum completely, with Kusal anchoring the innings throughout, bagging a half-century in the process.

Ireland may have been okay with this score prior to the start but once they tied SL in knots, they would have wanted to keep them under 140-145, which seemed a real possibility at one stage. But they probably have themselves to blame with how patchy they were in the field, which also meant they could not cash in on the pressure their spinners applied. A tricky chase now awaits and they will have to be at their best to turn SL over from here.

Mark Adair: (On the score) Think it is par, maybe slightly over. They closed it out well. (On the dropped catches) It is a little bit sloppy from us (and we hope it does not cost us). Our spinners bowled beautifully and to get into that position, we are happy. As the ball gets older, it starts to grip. When it is new, it skids on nicely.

Sri Lanka 163/6

Ireland

(10/20 ov, T:164) 72/2

Ireland need 92 runs in 60 balls.

Current RR: 7.20

• Required RR: 9.20

• Last 5 ov (RR): 38/1 (7.60)

Win Probability IRE 43.75%SL 56.25%

SL 163-6(20)

IRE 82-2(11.5)

CRR:6.93

REQ:10.04

Ireland need 82 runs in 49 balls

80 off 48, and SL play their trump card again. Can Hasaranga produce something magical?

Over 13

10 runs

Need 70 from 42b

IRE 94/2CRR: 7.23 RRR: 10.00

LJ Tucker 16 (15b 1x4)

HT Tector 33 (27b 1x4)

MD Shanaka 0/22 (3)

Congratulations to team SL for their win against Ireland.

Ireland lose their way to end up with a defeat.

At 105/2, Ireland were looking good for the final assault. But the wickets of Tucker and Tector totally turned things around. They were the set batters and the game slipped away from Ireland after that. In the end they lose by 20, when one expected them to get much closer, if not win. Earlier, Stirling fell for a cheap score but the partnership between Tucker and Tector gave Ireland hope. Sri Lanka through their catching and fielding were a marked contrast to Ireland who were woeful. Hasaranga put in a heroic effort in the words of my esteemed colleague, Sagar Chawla as he battled hamstring issues to complete his 4 overs, taking 3 crucial wickets.

A relatively comfortable win in the end, but that was definitely not the case when six overs of the chase were remaining. At that point, though, Ireland began losing their way and they just could not recovering, with SL also tightening the screws. Tector and Tucker kept Ireland afloat but neither was able to bat through. Ross Adair also fell after a start and Ireland's failure to have a set batter at the death cost them.

As for the hosts, well, they had to rely on their spinners, which always felt like the case. Theekshana was brilliant and Hasaranga, battling what looked like a hamstring injury, fought through the pain and produced one of his trademark wicket-taking displays. Both kept chipping away and that constant wicket-taking meant SL had too much for Ireland in the end.