Sri Lanka defeated Australia by eight wickets in their 2026 T20 World Cup Group B match in Kandy on Monday. After the impressive performance of the home team, Sri Lanka coach Sanath Jayasuriya praised the work of two former Indian team coaches. Speaking after the game, Jayasuriya credited the work of R Sridhar and Vikram Rathour, two former Indian team coaches, for the side’s outstanding performance.
"R Sridhar is our fielding coach, he’s from India, and also Vikram (Rathour) is our batting coach. Both are really good gentlemen. They do whatever we want to do at practice, which is really good for fielding. With his IPL experience, he’s working with the players really well and gelling well. We have given a lot of confidence to the batters. Sometimes, as coaches, we may get desperate with the batting unit, but still we gave confidence to the players. Vikram and Sridhar were really good," Jayasuriya said.
He also credited the team’s resilient bowling display. After being hammered for 100 runs in the first eight overs, Sri Lanka managed to choke Australia with their spinners. Despite losing their premier fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana to a hamstring injury, Sri Lanka stayed on the throats of the Australian batters and restricted them to 181 runs in 20 overs. Jayasuriya revealed that the conversation in the dressing room centred around varying the pace and making life difficult for the Australian batters, who tried to attack the bowlers with aggressive stroke play. "I think we wanted to send the message to vary the pace and slow it down as much as possible, and the wicket was gripping a little bit, which we wanted to maximise. So I think Maheesh Theekshana they all bowled well. We had a terrible thing with Matheesha Pathirana. But I think we came back really well after the first few overs. Maheesh came back and bowled three overs. So that was the key. The bowlers did a great job," concluded Jayasuriya.The loss means that Australia remain in third place with two points from three matches. Australia have now lost to both Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, while having beaten Ireland.
Australia will now need to hope that Ireland beat Zimbabwe in Tuesday's match. Should Zimbabwe beat Ireland, then Australia's elimination from the tournament will be confirmed.The loss means that Australia remain in third place with two points from three matches. Australia have now lost to both Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, while having beaten Ireland. Australia will now need to hope that Ireland beat Zimbabwe in Tuesday's match. Should Zimbabwe beat Ireland, then Australia's elimination from the tournament will be confirmed.