Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana stage Sri Lanka's win over Ireland in T20 World Cup

Wanindu Hasaranga picked 3/25 vs Ireland [Source: Wanindu49/X.com]

The tournament co-hosts, Sri Lanka, opened their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign against Ireland at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, on Sunday night, as their quest for the first title since 2014 continues.

They were coming into the tournament a bit low on confidence after the 0-3 loss against England at home. On the other hand, playing in their 9th edition of the tournament, Paul Stirling's Ireland had won against Italy and the UAE in January and carried that momentum in Sri Lanka.

As the two sides locked horns to start their tournaments, here's how the match panned out.

Dockrell and Delany stun Lankan middle order

Upon being asked to bat first, Sri Lanka got off to a good start, thanks to Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis. They added 62 runs by the time Nissanka was dismissed by George Dockrell's slow left-arm spin at 8.2, handing the catch straight to captain Paul Stirling.

Dockrell continued his impressive spell and kept the scoring rate under check, with only 9 runs in his 3 overs. He then also dismissed Pavan Rathnayake when he tried to play an audacious upper cut and got castled for 5 (9).

The left-arm spinner was well complemented by leg spinner Gareth Delany, who only conceded run-a-ball 24 runs and also dismissed Dunith Wellalage for 10 (13). Sri Lanka were suddenly reduced to 86/4 in 13.5 overs.

Kamindu and Kusal Mendis capitalise on dropped catches

Right when it looked like Ireland could bowl the Lankans out soon, a Kusal Mendis catch down the ground was dropped by Harry Tector. It was followed by two more missed opportunities in the same over of Matthew Humphreys.

Both Kusal and Kamindu made the most of the chances presented and scored 67(30) for the 5th wicket. Kamindu was dismissed for 44(19), while the number 3, Kusal, ended 56*(43) with five fours. Barry McCarthy and Mark Adair tried to stem the flow at the end, and SL eventually got 163/6 in 20 overs.

Dockrell was the pick of the bowlers with his incredible spell of 2/17 off 4 overs.

Spinners stage a convincing Sri Lanka win

Sri Lanka started the second innings perfectly with an early wicket of the dangerous Paul Stirling, who only managed 6 runs in his 13-ball stay. The second opener Ross Adair gave the Irish a good start from the other end, scoring 34 off 23 with 5 fours and a six before he was cleaned up on an injured Wanindu Hasaranga googly.

Harry Tector and Lorcan Tucker went on to stitch a fine 49-run stand for the third wicket and kept the scoreboard ticking throughout the middle overs, mostly through running. The wicketkeeper then skied one at the brink of the 15-over off Dunith Wellalage and was soon followed by Tector, who was dismissed for 40 off 34.

The dangerous Ben Calitz, who came in during a crunch situation, looked to dance down the track and attack Maheesh Theekshana and was stumped for a run-a-ball 4 runs. Theekshana backed it up with another wicket right on the next ball, as Gareth Delany edged one straight to the short third and Sri Lanka.

The Irishmen ended up losing wickets in a cluster and were soon bundled for 143 runs after being 113/3 at the 15-over mark and won by 20 runs. Wanindu Hasaranga was the star of the night with 3/25 from his four overs.

Hasaranga surpasses Shahid Afridi's T20 World Cup wicket tally

As Sri Lanka got off to a winning start to the T20 World Cup campaign at home, the star of the bowling attack, Hasaranga, went past the former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi for wickets taken in the tournament. He only remains behind Shakib Al Hasan's 50 wickets in 41 innings now.

After getting the two points in the bag, the Lankans face Oman on Thursday, February 12, followed by the clashes against Australia and Zimbabwe.