Sri Lanka faced their first defeat of the group-stage clash of the T20 World Cup 2026 against Zimbabwe, who continued their unbeaten run in the competition with three wins, along with a no-result due to rain, at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Despite that, one of the special fielding performances of the game came from the Lankan captain, Dasun Shanaka. 

It was the fifth delivery of the 19th over of the chase when Zimbabwe’s right-handed batter, Tashinga Musekiwa, went for a slog against Dushan Hemantha, as the ball went high in the air straight down the ground, but didn’t get the potential elevation to go beyond the boundary rope, which saw Dasun Shanaka running towards it.

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The Sri Lanka captain, despite it being Dunith Wellalage’s catch having run from the long-off region, took the onus on his shoulder and ran back from the mid-on region. He never took his eyes off the ball and held onto a skimmer, even as he avoided running directly towards the teammate, which was another positive.

Dasun Shanaka grabs special catch in SL vs ZIM T20 WC 2026

Earlier in the game, Sri Lanka recorded a strong score of 178 runs for the loss of seven wickets in their allotted 20 overs of the innings. Pathum Nissanka clubbed 62 runs in 41 balls with the help of eight boundaries at a strike rate of 151.22, while their middle-order batter, Pavan Rathanayake, got 44 runs in just 25 balls, thanks to three boundaries and two sixes.

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Three bowlers of the Zimbabwe bowling department, Blessing Muzarabani, Brad Evans, and Graeme Creamer, picked up two wickets each in the innings. The chase was expected to be a tough one for the Zimbabwe side.

However, Brian Bennett saw the chase off with an unbeaten knock of 63 runs in 48 balls, scoring eight boundaries, while captain Sikandar Raza played a gem of a knock with 45 runs in 26 balls with the help of four over boundaries and two boundaries as they completed the chase by six wickets in 19.3 overs.

Brief Scores: Zimbabwe 182/4 (Brian Bennett 63*, Sikandar Raza 45, Dushan Hemantha 2/36) beat Sri Lanka 178/7 (Pathum Nissanka 62, Graeme Creamer 2/27) by 6-wickets.