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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Ireland Men lost their opening game at the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup by 20 runs, defeated by the tournament co-hosts in front of a packed house.

After winning the toss at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Ireland had to wait until the fourth over to claim their first wicket. It was Mark Adair who made the breakthrough, deceiving Kamil Mishara with a clever slower ball that held up in the wicket and Barry McCarthy completed a simple catch.

George Dockrell then removed Nissanka Silva, Ireland captain Paul Stirling taking a sharp catch at cover. Not long after, the left arm spinner bowled Pavan Rathnayake when the batter tried to delicately deflect a delivery behind square on the off-side but failed to make contact.

In the 14th over, Gareth Delany had the left-handed Wellalage caught by Dockrell on the boundary after the batter mishit a well-disguised googly.

It was during this period of the innings, that Ireland’s spinners carefully built pressure with the hosts failing to score a boundary between the 7th and 16th overs.

Sri Lanka, though, eventually mounted an attack in the final stages to post a formidable 163-6 in front of a packed stadium as the home fans and the music in the stadium began to gradually increase in volume. Ireland will look back and rue several missed chances as Sri Lanka took the game on and made the most of their opportunities. 

In reply, both Paul Stirling and Ross Adair began well in the chase until Stirling was dismissed by Theekshana early in the fourth over. Harry Tector then managed to maintain the rate of scoring and put on an important stand with Adair given the pressure of a World Cup chase.

Hasaranga de Silva eventually bowled Adair with a much slower delivery. This was after the leg-spin bowler had shown difficulty with a hamstring injury, but he fought through and completed the over, finishing it with the wicket of Adair. 

A  crucial partnership of 49 soon developed between Lorcan Tucker and Harry Tector, with both batters running exceptionally well. However, regular wickets began to stall Ireland’s progress with the required run rate also climbing.

George Dockrell and Mark Adair did their best to launch a late surge but the task proved too much as the chasing side was eventually bowled out in the final over.

There’s still much to play for in Group B, with Ireland next facing Australia on Wednesday (11 February 2026).

MATCH SUMMARY

Ireland Men v Sri Lanka Men, 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Sri Lanka, 08 February 2026

SRI LANKA 163-6 (20 overs; Kusal Mendis 56*; G Dockrell 2-17, B McCarthy 2-40)
IRELAND 143 (19.5 overs; H Tector 40, R Adair 34; MM Theekshana 3-23)

Ireland lost by 20 runs

Scorecard here