Sri Lanka National Cricket Team vs Oman National Cricket Team Match Scorecard: Pavan Rathnayake and captain Dasun Shanaka struck blazing half-centuries while Kusal Mendis produced a steady knock as Sri Lanka piled up 225 for five against Oman in their Group B match of the T20 World Cup on Thursday.

Rathnayake bounced back strongly after a poor outing against Ireland, where he was dismissed for five, smashing 60 off 28 balls with eight fours and a six. The 23-year-old reached his maiden T20I fifty in 24 balls, bettering his previous best of 40 at the same venue earlier this month.

He launched the innings’ first six off pacer Jiten Ramanandi in the 12th over and struck Sufyan Mehmood for three consecutive fours to bring up his half-century.

Rathnayake added 94 runs for the third wicket with Mendis in just 52 balls as Sri Lanka lifted the scoring rate through the middle overs. At the halfway stage, Sri Lanka were 96 without loss, with 40 runs coming through singles and twos as the pair rotated strike well.

Mendis anchored the innings with 61 off 45 balls, hitting seven fours. It was his second successive fifty and 19th in T20 internationals. He was run out in the 19th over.

Shanaka, who had struggled in the lead-up to the tournament with scores of 1, 4 and 0, turned the tide at the death. He hammered a 19-ball fifty, the fastest by a Sri Lankan in T20 World Cup history.

The skipper hit a boundary and two sixes off Nadeem Khan before striking Sufyan Mehmood for successive sixes to reach the milestone. Shanaka and Mendis fell off consecutive deliveries in the same over.

Kamindu Mendis then provided the finishing touches, smashing Shah Faisal for back-to-back sixes as Sri Lanka plundered 65 runs in the last four overs to register the highest total of the tournament so far.