Australia have made three changes for their must-win T20 World Cup match against Sri Lanka
Australia have omitted their leading run-scorer Matthew Renshaw for their must-win encounter with Sri Lanka as captain Mitch Marsh was named for his first appearance of the T20 World Cup.
Marsh has overcome a testicular injury to take his place at the top of the order after missing the opening two matches, one of three changes for an Australian side in desperate need of two points after losing their last match to Zimbabwe.
Australia XI: Mitch Marsh (c), Travis Head, Cameron Green, Tim David, Josh Inglis (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Cooper Connolly, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa
Ins: Mitch Marsh, Cooper Connolly, Xavier Bartlett. Outs: Matthew Renshaw, Ben Dwarshuis, Matthew Kuhnemann
Sri Lanka XI: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis (wk), Pavan Rathnayake, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka (c), Dushan Hemantha, Dunith Wellalage, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana
In: Kusal Perera. Out: Kamil Mishara
Xavier Bartlett and Ben Dwarshuis have switched places for the second successive match, the former coming in at the latter’s expense, with allrounder Cooper Connolly replacing fellow left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann in a lengthening of the batting order.
Marsh lost the toss and Australia were inserted after shifting to central Sri Lanka for their final two Group B matches, with Kandy’s Pallekele Stadium the highest and fastest scoring of the country’s six venues to have hosted men’s T20 internationals.
“It’s a big game; I think every game at a World Cup comes with great responsibility,” Marsh said at the toss. “We weren’t at our best last game, but we look forward to tonight and it’s going to be a great challenge for us.”
Marcus Stoinis has been cleared to play after sustaining a bruised hand in the previous match, but there was no room for Steve Smith after he was officially added to Australia’s 15-man squad earlier on Monday.
Josh Inglis has been listed at No.5 after opening in place of Marsh for the first two matches of the tournament, with Cameron Green and Tim David at three and four respectively, though Australia have showed their batting order is fluid across the opening two matches depending on the state of the game.
Renshaw however can count himself very unfortunate to be left out with his 102 runs striking at better than 130 the most for Australia in the tournament so far.
The Queensland left-hander is the newest member of the side after making his T20 international debut in Pakistan last month, but he’s been the quickest to acclimatise to Sri Lanka’s spinning pitches, top scoring in the loss to Zimbabwe with 65 from 44 balls, while he also lifted Australia out of trouble in their first-up win over Ireland, hitting 37 in a 61-run partnership with Stoinis.
It means, on Sri Lanka’s highest and fastest scoring ground, Australia have backed in their batting power unit that delivered a sustained run of T20 success from the end of the last World Cup in 2024 through until the end of last year.
Sri Lanka belted Oman for 225 at the tournament’s only match in Kandy so far, with its average per wicket (25.26) and run rate per over (8.33) in men’s T20Is the highest among Sri Lankan venues, and notably higher than Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium (average 22.26 and run rate 7.61) where Australia played their first two World Cup matches.
Australia sit third in Group B after their loss to Zimbabwe, with two wins from their remaining group matches giving them the best chance of progression to the Super Eight stage.
They have the benefit of playing last against Oman (Saturday, 12.30am AEDT), so they will know exactly what net run-rate they need to achieve should they finish level on points with Sri Lanka and the African nation.
The tournament co-hosts made one change with left-hander Kusal Perera replacing Kamil Mishara at the top of the order.
Sri Lanka are currently top of the group and a third straight win tonight would seal their progression to the Super Eight.
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, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserve: Sean Abbott
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
