Sri Lankas Victory Turns Historic as Nissanka Sets New Benchmark

Sri Lanka has now marched to the Super Eight stages of the tournament with ease. Pathum Nissanka hammered a ton in the 181 runs chase to power Sri Lanka to the win. While this makes Australia's qualification chances slim, Nissanka has made a record which no other player did before.

India vs Sri Lanka: Asia Cup 2025

The match started with the Indian team batting first. Abhishek Sharma gave a blistering start to the Indian team as usual, but he did not receive the required support from the top order. Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma also scored well, as India managed to put down a total of 202 runs for the loss of 5 wickets.

A target above 200 against the number one ranked team seems impossible to chase. But Pathum Nissanka thought that this is the right time to show that even the impossible can be possible, when he is on the crease. Although the first wicket fell quickly, Nissanka partnered with Kusal Mendis to take the team close to the win.

He went on to score 107 runs off 58 balls in this mammoth chase against India. His knock included 7 fours and 6 sixes but he eventually lost his wicket to Harshit Rana. Dasun Shanaka went on to score 22 runs off 11 balls, which allowed Sri Lanka to level the score with India. The last game of the Super Fours went to a Super Over.

Pic Source: ESPNcricinfo

However, Pathum Nissanka did not get a chance to bat for the team in this match decider. Sri Lanka was only able to score 2 runs before being all out in the Super Over. India went on to chase the target in just 1 ball, which allowed them to secure a win. The first ever T20I ton by Nissanka came in a losing cause.

A few months after his maiden T20I century, Pathum Nissanka has now brought down his second T20I century. And this time, it came for him in a winning cause and even allowed Sri Lanka to qualify for the Super Eight stages. Sri Lanka was able to win the toss in this game and they decided to field first.

In the beginning, it felt like the Aussies had unleashed their prime form with the bat. Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh were going all over the ground against the Sri Lankan bowlers. After an opening partnership of 104 runs, Sri Lanka made a crucial comeback to put the Aussies down at the score of 130/4.

Kusal Perera lost his wicket in the second over, but Pathum Nissanka got the support from Kusal Mendis yet again. Mendis got out after scoring 51 runs, but Nissanka remained for the team till the end. He first went on to score his half-century in 32 balls, and stood at the score of 54 runs off 36 balls in the last few overs of the chase.

However, he decided to speed up his innings and finish the game early. In the next 16 balls, he was able to bring up his century and even took Sri Lanka way too close to the win. This further helped Pavan Rathnayake to finish the game with a boundary and take Sri Lanka to the Super Eight stages.