Nissanka guides Sri Lanka into Super Eights as Australia face early exit

Feb 16 : Pathum Nissanka made an unbeaten century as Sri Lanka chased down a target of 182 to beat Australia by eight wickets and reach the Twenty20 World Cup's Super Eight stage on Monday, leaving their opponents on the brink of a humiliating early exit. 

Put into bat, Australia captain Mitchell Marsh (54) and Travis Head (56) shared a rapid opening partnership of 104 inside nine overs, but they failed to build on that momentum and collapsed to 181 all out as Dushan Hemantha bagged a three-wicket haul.

Nissanka and Kusal Mendis added 97 runs for the second wicket to get Sri Lanka off to a solid start. Nissanka struck five sixes and 10 fours to reach 100 in 52 balls, and Pavan Rathnayake (28) hit the winning runs with a sweep to mid-wicket as the hosts finished on 184-2 with two overs to spare.

Australia, former champions who lost their last match to Zimbabwe, must hope Sri Lanka beat Zimbabwe on Thursday to have a shot at qualifying for the Super Eights with a top-two finish in the group before they play Oman on Friday.