SL vs IRE T20 World Cup LIVE Score: Co-hosts, Sri Lanka start their World Cup campaign against Ireland

Ireland’s best chance starts with Paul Stirling setting tempo up top and Harry Tector doing the glue job in the middle – the guy who can keep it tidy against spin and still cash in late. Lorcan Tucker is their chaos switch: one good 15-ball burst can change the momentum. With the ball, watch the left-arm pace of Josh Little and the hit-the-deck seamers Mark Adair and Barry McCarthy in the hard overs. In Colombo, their control option is spin through Matthew Humphreys and George Dockrell.

For Sri Lanka, this match and a big chunk of their campaign – starts with Pathum Nissanka setting the powerplay tempo without gifting early wickets, because the middle overs in Colombo can turn into quick sand. Kusal Mendis and Charith Asalanka are the bridge: if they win overs 7-15, Sri Lanka get to control the game, not chase it. With the ball, the campaign hinges on Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana squeezing and striking on a surface that rewards spin, while Matheesha Pathirana and Dusmantha Chameera own the hard overs.

Ireland have arrived with momentum on their side. Their pre-tournament in Dubai was productive – a stretch where they banked four wins in five games, including a strong showing against United Arab Emirates that underlined their powerplay intent and bowling discipline. The only catch? Colombo weather. Their only warm-up match against Pakistan was abandoned without a toss due to rain, costing them match-time just days before the opener. So the form looks encouraging, but the sharpness has to come quickly, because group-stage freebies don’t exist here.

Sri Lanka’s lead-in has been bumpy but useful. In the January tune-up against Pakistan, they lost the opener at Dambulla, had the second game washed out, then hit back in a rain-reduced decider to leave the three-match series shared at 1-1. The bigger alarm came days before the World Cup: a 0-3 home sweep by England on turning pitches, where batting depth and death execution were repeatedly exposed. Dasun Shanaka has the armband again, but this time he will hope to give a better show leading his team.

Two days in, and the so-called weaker sides have already turned this edition into a stress test. The Netherlands took Pakistan deep in the opener before going down by three wickets with three balls left. The USA then had India wobbling at 77/6, forcing a full-blown rescue act before a 29-run escape. Afghanistan matches New Zealand blow for blow too, piling 182/6 before losing the game by five wickets. In other words: reputation isn’t winning moments here – execution is.

Ireland don’t walk into World Cups hoping for a miracle – they have already live a few. They stunned Pakistan in the 2007 ODI World Cup, chased down 327 to beat England in 2011, and hunted down another 300-plus target against West Indies in 2015. Even in T20Is, they have shown they can end a giant’s campaign: Ireland beat West Indies by nine wickets at the 2022 T20 World Cup and knocked the two-time champions out in the first round. That is the point tonight: if Ireland hang around, one big passage can flip the game – and history says they love that script.

Sri Lanka know better than anyone that no game is routine in a World Cup. They have been stung before – rolled for 108 while chasing 164 against Namibia in the 2022 opener – and there’s an older scar too, the 2003 ODI World Cup loss to Kenya. Even outside World Cups, they flirted with disaster at the 2023 World Cup Qualifier when Netherlands had them on the mat. Ireland’s job tonight is to drag Sri Lanka into that uncomfortable zone. If they do, the crowd goes quiet – and pressure starts talking back.

Ireland didn’t need to run the regional-qualifier gauntlet for a sport at the 2026 T20 World Cup. They qualified directly via the ICC Men’s T20I team rankings at the 30 June 2024 cut-off, which filled the remaining automatic slots after the 2024 tournament’s Supe 8 teams and the two hosts were locked in.

Sri Lanka didn’t need a qualifier to book their ticket for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026: as co-hosts (with India), they were automatic entrants once the 20-team field was finalised. The rest of the automatic spots came from the 2024 tournament finish and the ICC T20I rankings cut-off, with the remaining teams qualifying through regional pathways.

Ireland’s T20 WOrld Cup story is built on flashes of chaos and one landmark run: the Super 8s in 2009, still their best finish. They have qualified for every edition since that debut and have kept punching above their weight, including a 2022 campaign that carried them into the main Super 12 phase. Last time out in 2024, results didn’t follow, with an early group-stage exit. But Ireland’s identity hasn’t changed: fearless powerplay intent, relentless hustle in the field, and the belief that one big over can rewrite a night. On their day, they could upset the favourites and drag matches into the chaos phase