Sri Lanka, after their victory against Ireland in the opening encounter of the T20 World Cup 2026campaign at the R. Premadasa Cricket Stadium in Colombo, moved to the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy for the second fixture against Oman, as it was another vital clash for them to secure the victory and make their way into the Super 8 stage. 

After losing both openers inside the power play, Sri Lanka needed someone to play the aggressive role, as Pavan Rathnayake stood up with some fabulous shots as he nailed three boundaries in his first four deliveries before cutting Wasim Ali late to find the gap between the backward point and short third man region for another four.

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On the third delivery of the 12th over, the right-handed batter stayed deep in the crease and swung his willow high over the deep square leg region for a massive six as the ball made its way into the stands. With a thumping boundary on the fourth ball of the 13th over, Rathnayake celebrated his maiden T20I fifty in just 24 balls.

Pavan Rathnayake celebrates maiden T20I fifty in SL vs OMA T20 WC 2026

Pavan continued the aggressive shots in the same over as he stayed leg side and opened the face of the bat to chip the ball over the cover against Sufyan Mahmood before shuffling across and using the pace of the bowler to leap it over the short fine for another boundary.

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He was finally dismissed for 60 runs in 28 balls with the help of eight boundaries and one six at a strike rate of 214.29. Meanwhile, Kusal Mendis continued his superb work from the other end with a half-century at a strike rate of more than 130.

But the late flourish in the batting department for Sri Lanka came from their captain, Dasun Shanaka, who drilled two successive sixes and one boundary in the 17th over of the innings against Nadeem Khan and raced away to 36 runs in just 15 balls.

Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 199/4 (Kushal Mendis 61, Pavan Rathnayake, Jay Odedra 1/14) vs Oman.