T20 World Cup: Kusal Mendis rescues Sri Lanka from a spot as co-hosts begin campaign with win over Ireland

AS IT HAPPENED | SRI LANKA VS IRELAND T20 WORLD CUP 2026 HIGHLIGHTS

With an army of spinners against them on a pitch that more often than not tends to slow down, and with a huge outfield, Ireland’s lack of experience was bound to show. Although Ross Adair and Harry Tector did their best to stay ahead of the chase, the acceleration that they sought never arrived as Theekshana and Hasaranga kept pegging them back. The pressure increased through dot balls before the kill. As the Irish fell short by 20 runs.

Counted among Full Member nations in ICC ranks, the last 12-18 months haven’t been easy for Ireland. Last year, their captain Paul Stirling admitted that the team needs to play more cricket on a regular basis after Cricket Ireland cancelled the fixtures against Afghanistan for financial reasons. Having gained Test status at the same time, while Afghanistan have been soaring in white-ball cricket and even in Under-19 ICC tournaments, Ireland are just about managing to stay afloat.

Sri Lanka beat Ireland by 20 runs to start their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign with a win. (PHOTO: AP)

In an attempt to improve their performances in the T20 format, Ireland have been mostly camping in the subcontinent. After playing in Bangladesh, where they even won a T20I, they headed to Dubai to prepare for the T20 World Cup, playing Italy and UAE.

Spoiling the good work

All of it seemed to work perfectly for a major part of the first innings, as their spinners choked the hosts before a flurry of dropped catches ruined it all. Having kept Sri Lanka to 104/4 in 16 overs, it was in left-arm spinner Matthew Humphrey’s over that Ireland lost control. Up until that moment, none of the Sri Lankan batsmen had got used to the challenging pitch.

But the arrival of Kamindu changed all of it. Until last week, Sri Lanka’s Player of the Year in 2025 was not even part of the T20 World Cup squad, having been dropped for the home series against England. At a time when Lankan cricketers are not the most sought after among IPL franchises, he has been an exception. A hard striker, he is ambidextrous with the ball. His inclusion in the XI opens up a spot as he has the skills to take the ball away from both right- and left-handed batsmen.

Coming in at No.6, Kamindu straightaway injected momentum into the innings, even as Kusal Mendis played the anchor role, not by choice but because he couldn’t change gears. His first boundary came off a reverse-sweep before he was handed a life off Humphrey’s first ball in the 16th over. Three deliveries later, as he hit one to long-on, the ball burst through the fielder for six. By the time his stay ended, Kamindu had 44 off 19 (4×4, 2×6) – the sort of innings that tends to make a huge difference on this sort of surface. Kusal remained unbeaten on 56 off 43 deliveries.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 163/6 (Kusal Mendis 56 not out, Kamindu Mendis 44; George Dockrell 2/17) beat Ireland 143 all out in 19.5 overs (Harry Tector 40, Ross Adair 34; Theekshana 3/23, Hasaranga 3/25) by 20 runs