Sri Lanka vs Ireland Highlights, T20 World Cup 2026: SL begin campaign with victory, beat IRE by 20 runs in Colombo
Sri Lanka vs Ireland T20 World Cup 2026 Highlights: Co-hosts Sri Lanka start their T20 World Cup campaign with a 20-run win over Ireland at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday.
The Lankans washed the bad taste of losing 0-3 to England in their World Cup tune-up series and set Ireland a target of 164, where Kusal Mendis and Kamindu Mendis shone with the bat.
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Defending the target, Sri Lankan bowlers were on point, bundling out Ireland for 143 to register a comprehensive win.
Sri Lanka vs Ireland T20 World Cup Match – Live Cricket Score, Full Scorecard
In recent times, the 2014 champions Sri Lanka have been pretty inconsistent with the most recent example being their inability to fire with both the bat and the ball. They are in a tricky group with Australia, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Oman and while you would expect the first to teams to qualify for the next stage, the World Cap has a tendency to throw up surprises now and then.
Ireland, meanwhile, will hope that the luck of the Irish smiles upon them as they look to cause the first proper upset of this World Cup. They have been in good form with series wins against UAE and Italy and will likely carry that momentum forward against Sri Lanka.
Match EndedICC Men’s T20 World Cup, 2026 – Match 6
Sri Lanka
163/6 (20.0)
vs
Ireland
143 (19.5)
Match Ended ( Match 6 )
Sri Lanka beat Ireland by 20 runs
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T20 World Cup 2026 Group B; Zimbabwe, Si Lanka, Australia, Ireland and Oman will compete in the same group. (AP/Reuters/File Photo)
T20 World Cup 2026 Group B: Check out full schedule, squads, venues of Australia, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Oman, Zimbabwe
Wounded by a massive 0-3 defeat to Pakistan in Lahore, Australia enter the tournament with an injury-ravaged side that is still not short on batting firepower. However, with their relative weakness against spin coming to the fore, it will be interesting to see how Australia contend with the challenges in this group.
Interestingly, all matches in this group will be played exclusively in Sri Lanka. The matches will be held across the three designated venues: the R Premadasa Stadium and thr SSC Cricket Ground in Colombo and the Pallekele Cricket Stadium in Kandy.
