Match facts
Who: Australia v Sri Lanka
What: Match 30, ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, Group B
When: Monday, February 16. First ball 7pm local time (Tuesday, February 17, 12:30am AEDT)
Where: Pallekele International Stadium, Kandy
Live scores: Match Centre
How to watch: Prime Video
How to listen: ABC Listen and SEN Radio
Officials: Richard Kettleborough and Ahsan Raza (field), Asif Yaqoob (third), Wayne Knights (fourth), Dean Cosker (match referee)
News and reactions post-play: cricket.com.au and the CA Live app. The Unplayable Podcast will also be bringing listeners weekly World Cup updates during the group stage and will be joined by special guests to dissect all the talking points from the tournament. Aussie stars Tim David and Josh Inglis were on the pod ahead of the opening match, with another guest to join next week’s episode, so make sure you catch up and subscribe by clicking on your preferred platform below.
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Broadcast info
All 55 matches will again be shown exclusively live on Prime Video in Australia with the subscription streaming service holding the Aussie broadcast rights for all ICC events until the end of 2027. There is no free-to-air Australian television broadcast under the deal. You can sign up for Prime Video, as well as their 30-day free trial, here.
If joining the broadcast late, Prime Video offers a ‘rapid recap’ feature, which will bring fans up to speed on the best action so far. Prime Video will also produce on-demand highlights packages after every match along with full match replays, available immediately after the match has finished.
The squads
Australia: Mitch Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserves: Sean Abbott, Steve Smith
Reserve batter Steve Smith has joined the Aussie squad in Sri Lanka but is yet to be officially added to the 15-man World Cup squad. Until he is, he can’t play in the tournament. Mitch Marsh has missed Australia’s first two games and remains under an injury cloud suffering from internal testicular bleeding. Smith, who played in the side’s most recent T20I at Pallekele Stadium in 2022, could come straight into contention if the Australian captain was to miss a third straight match after taking a painful hit to the groin area at training last Sunday. Australia can add Smith into their 15-man squad without replacing anyone as they have a spare spot available having opted not to immediately name a replacement when injured fast bowler Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of the tournament.
In better news, Tim David returned from a hamstring injury in Australia’s loss to Zimbabwe, while allrounder Marcus Stoinis has been cleared of any damage to his left hand after copping a blow in his follow through. He returned to bat later in the match at No.7, though he only faced four balls before being dismissed for six.
Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (c), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Kamindu Mendis, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Perera, Charith Asalanka, Janith Liyanage, Pavan Rathnayake, Dushan Hemantha, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Matheesha Pathirana, Pramod Madushan
Sri Lanka were dealt their own injury after their first match when key spinner Wanindu Hasaranga was ruled out of the tournament with a “serious left-hamstring tear” after taking 3-25 in their first-up win over Ireland. Fellow leg-spinner Dushan Hemantha replaced Hasaranga in the squad and came straight into the XI against Oman, taking 1-45 from four overs. The co-hosts will now rely heavily on Maheesh Theekshana to make the most of the assistance provided by their home tracks, and he’s done as such in their opening two matches, taking 2-11 off four overs against Oman and 3-23 from four in their tournament opening win over Ireland. Left-armer Dunith Wellalage has also bowled tidily for his two wickets at an economy rate of under six for the tournament.
In another injury blow, Pramod Madushan, who had been cut from an extended group of 25, was added to the main World Cup squad on the opening day of the tournament as a replacement for fellow quick Eshan Malinga, who injured his shoulder in the bilateral series against England prior to the tournament. Dasun Shanaka returns as Sri Lankan T20 captain for the World Cup, replacing Charith Asalanka at the helm, who has still been included in the final 15.
Possible XIs
Australia: Travis Head (c), Josh Inglis (wk), Cameron Green, Tim David, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Renshaw, Cooper Connolly, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Matthew Kuhnemann
Marcus Stoinis is expected to suit up against Sri Lanka having been cleared of damage to his left hand after taking a blow in his follow through against Zimbabwe. The Australian camp said Stoinis’ hand was sore, but he was otherwise OK and has been scheduled to do the media conference prior to Monday’s match. Captain Mitch Marsh’s availability to face Sri Lanka remains unclear as he recovers from a painful blow to the groin area.
Stoinis (1-17 off 2.5 overs) was Australia’s best with the ball before leaving the field immediately in his third over when Ryan Burl’s line drive came straight back in him and smashed into his left hand. The former champions’ bowling line-up remains unsettled heading into the match-up with Sri Lanka however, with Ben Dwarshuis conceding 40 runs from four wicketless overs after replacing Xavier Bartlett, who had conceded 11 runs an over from his two in the first match against Ireland. Selectors could pivot to spin, with left-armer allrounder Cooper Connolly also missing the last match.
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis (wk), Pavan Rathnayake, Kamindu Mendis, Janith Liyanage, Dasun Shanaka (c), Dunith Wellalage, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana
The co-hosts could go with an extra quick to take on Australia with seamers generally playing a bigger role at Pallekele Stadium than other T20 venues in Sri Lanka. It’s also the country’s highest scoring ground in the format. Dushan Hemantha, who replaced fellow leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga when he was ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury, could be the one to make way after he was expensive against Oman (1-45 from four overs).
Seam-bowling allrounder Janith Liyanage could be an option having played in the side’s last match in Kandy against England before the World Cup, or they could look at another batter in Charith Asalanka, who played in the first two T20s of that warm-up series, which were also at Pallekele Stadium. Sri Lanka’s middle order has been in dominant form in their two games so far, led by wicketkeeper-batter Kusal Mendis who has scores of 56 not out followed by 61.
Australia v Sri Lanka history
Australia and Sri Lanka first met in men’s T20 internationals at the format’s inaugural World Cup in 2007 where Australia claimed a dominant 10‑wicket win in Cape Town with paceman Stuart Clark named player of the match for his 4-20. Australia have since won three more of their four T20 World Cup encounters and also hold the advantage in bilateral contests 16-10, winning one of those (in February 2022 at the SCG) in a Super Over. The two sides’ head-to-head record in Sri Lanka conditions in much closer, though Australia still have the upper hand with four wins from seven matches, including a 2-1 series win on their last visit to the island nation for T20Is in 2022.
Australia won the last T20 meeting between the two sides at Perth in the 2022 World Cup by seven wickets and have only lost twice to Sri Lanka in their past 14 T20 encounters. But Sri Lanka’s most recent T20 win over Australia did come when they last met at Pallekele Stadium where they face off again on Monday night, with captain Dasun Shanaka’s unbeaten 54 from 25 balls lifting his side to their 177-run target with one ball to spare.
Group B latest
Undefeated teams Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe sit one and two respectively in Group B after winning their opening two matches, the African side stunning Australia in Colombo on Friday to take a comfortable 23-run victory. Australia’s loss to Zimbabwe has complicated matters for their progression to the Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup. They can still progress, but it’s not as straightforward anymore, and they could be staring down the barrel of an early exit with another loss to Sri Lanka on Monday night. Ireland are also still a chance after smashing Oman by 96 runs on Saturday, the latter already eliminated with zero wins from three matches.
Australia’s best chance for progression is to win their final two group matches against Sri Lanka and Oman (Saturday 12.30am AEDT), but their most straightforward path through still requires a little help from other results (Ireland beating Zimbabwe) to remove any threat of a net run-rate tiebreaker. They can still progress if Zimbabwe are too strong for Ireland, provided they also beat Sri Lanka. However, if Sri Lanka win that match after losing to Australia, the three teams will all be on six points with NRR to decide who goes through to the Super Eight phase. Fortunately, Australia’s final match against their weakest opponent in Oman is the last of the group, so they will know exactly what they need to do should it come down to NRR.
Players to watch
Travis Head (Australia): With scores of 17, 6, 4 and 23 in his past four knocks, Head is due to kick on and post a big score. The left-handed opener has been unlucky in his two dismissals so far in the tournament, chopping on against Zimbabwe with the ball ricochetting off his leg and onto the stumps, which came after he was run out in Australia’s opening match against Ireland in a mix up with Josh Inglis. When Australia’s backs are against the wall it usually brings out the best in Head, who in five T20 internationals against Sri Lanka, averages almost 30 striking at 163.
Pathum Nissanka (Sri Lanka): Like Head, Nissanka has got going in his past five innings but has failed to kick on, with four scores between 23 and 34. He is Sri Lanka’s leading run-scorer against Australia in men’s T20 internationals (297 in 10 matches) and needs just 26 more runs to become only the second man from his country to pass 2,500 runs in the format behind Kusal Mendis, who himself has started the tournament with consecutive half-centuries against Ireland and Oman. Nissanka scored 40 off 45 balls in his last T20 innings against Australia at Perth during the 2022 World Cup.
Local knowledge
Australia shift inland from Colombo to Kandy’s Pallekele Stadium for their final two group matches against Sri Lanka and Oman. Pallekele is the highest and fastest scoring men’s T20 international venue with its average per wicket (25.26) and run rate per over (8.33) the highest among the six grounds to have hosted matches.
Australia hold the record for the record T20I total at Pallekele Stadium with Glenn Maxwell’s career-best 145 not out from 65 balls taking them to 3-263 in 2016. That remains the only T20 match the Aussies have won at the venue, losing two matches in 2011 along with a penultimate-ball loss in their most recent visit in 2022.
Form guide
Past 10 matches, most recent first. W: win, L: loss, N: No result
Australia: LWLLLNLLWN
Australia’s shock loss to Zimbabwe was their second straight defeat to the African side at the men’s T20 World Cup after also losing their first encounter at the inaugural tournament in 2007. After comfortably winning their opening game against Ireland, the 23-run loss to Zimbabwe puts the former champions back in the pack fighting to progress from Group B.
While Australia are ranked No.2 in the world behind tournament favourites India, their recent T20 form hasn’t been great, winning just one of their past seven completed matches dating back to their 1-2 series loss to India at home last year. They were also smashed three-nil at the hands of Pakistan in Lahore leading into the T20 World Cup.
Sri Lanka: WWLLLWLLWW
Sri Lanka have won both of their T20 World Cup matches so far with the co-hosts smashing Oman (by 105 runs) and beating Ireland (by 20 runs) to sit top of Group B on four points. Their win over Oman snapped a three-game losing streak at Pallekele Stadium – the same venue where they face Australia – after also losing a series three-nil to England leading into the T20 World Cup.
Rapid stats
Australia have lost only two of their past 14 men’s T20Is against Sri Lanka (11 wins, one tie), but this will be their first meeting in the format since October 2022 which ended in a seven-wicket win for Australia on the day.
This will be the sixth meeting between Australia and Sri Lanka at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup with Australia winning four of the previous five encounters, including the past three in a row.
Australia have lost six of their last seven men’s T20Is, including a 23-run loss to Zimbabwe in their most recent fixture; in fact, their four losses in the format in 2026 are already their joint-most men’s T20I defeats in a calendar year since 2022 when they won 12 and lost seven matches.
Australia have lost three of their past four matches at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, with each of the four matches won by the team batting first on the day; in fact, Australia have been unsuccessful in their past three run chases at the tournament after failing only once across their previous 12 chases.
Sri Lanka have won their past two consecutive men’s T20Is – against Oman and Ireland – after winning only one of their previous six matches in the format; they will be aiming for back-to-back wins at Pallekele Stadium for the first time since November 2015 after winning by 105 runs against Oman in their last match there.
Zimbabwe (4) are the only team to have conceded fewer sixes at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 than Sri Lanka (5) and Australia (6), while Sri Lanka’s 11 sixes scored with the bat in hand are three more than Australia (8) in that frame.
Australia have lost at least two wickets during the Powerplay in each of their past five men’s T20Is, losing 14 in total across that stretch. They had only lost more than one wicket during the Powerplay in one of their seven innings in the format prior to that.
Kusal Mendis (Sri Lanka) has scored 40 runs from singles across his two innings at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, the most of any player from either Sri Lanka or Australia; he had scored just 39 runs from singles across his five previous T20I innings overall.
Adam Zampa (Australia) has taken 21 wickets against Sri Lanka in T20Is, his most against any opponent, at an average of just 13, while his 5.68 bowling economy against them is also his best against any team (minimum three games).
Pathum Nissanka (Sri Lanka) has scored 2,474 career T20I runs and is 26 away from becoming the second player to reach 2,500 runs in the men’s format for Sri Lanka (also Kusal Mendis). However, Nissanka has scored 26-plus runs in only one of his past nine innings.
2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup
Australia squad: Mitch Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserve: Sean Abbott, Steve Smith
Australia’s Group Stage fixtures
February 11: beat Ireland by 67 runs
February 13: lost to Zimbabwe by 23 runs
February 16: v Sri Lanka, Pallekele International Stadium, Kandy (Feb 17, 12:30am AEDT)
February 20: v Oman, Pallekele International Stadium, Kandy (Feb 21, 12:30am AEDT)
Australia’s Super Eight fixtures
(Assuming all seeded teams qualify)
February 23: Australia (X2) v West Indies (X3), Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai (Feb 24, 12:30am AEDT)
February 26: India (X1) v Australia (X2), MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai (Feb 27, 12:30am AEDT)
March 1: Australia (X2) v South Africa (X4), Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, 8:30pm AEDT
Click here for the full tournament schedule
All matches will be broadcast on Amazon’s Prime Video
