Will Byrom ripped through Sri Lanka’s batting order as they were blown away for 58. Australia then eased through the chase with 38 overs to spare, securing the third consecutive win in the ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup 2026 on Friday (23 January) in Windhoek.
Australian captain Oliver Peake opted to bowl first after winning the toss, and the pacers justified his decision by giving nothing away to the opposition as Sri Lanka lost their first three wickets for just three runs. Byrom, in particular, caused plenty of trouble for the Lankan batters.
No batter was able to make an impact or counter the Australian pace attack, with only two reaching double figures. Chamika Heenatigala was dismissed for 14 as the top scorer, and wickets continued to fall at regular intervals before Sri Lanka were bowled out inside 19 overs. Apart from Byrom, Kasey Barton and Charles Lachmund also picked up two wickets apiece.
- ICC upholds current match schedule for Men’s T20 World Cup 2026
- All-round Wellalage fires as Sri Lanka take 1-0 lead
- West Indies, Pakistan, Ireland secure wins at U19 World Cup
- ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Trophy arrives at Dialog Headquarters as Trophy Tour begins in Colombo
In the very first over of the chase, Rasith Nimsara produced a nip-backer to shatter the stumps of Will Malajczuk. However, Nitesh Samuel and Steven Hogan shared an unbeaten half-century stand to take Australia home with plenty of time remaining, with the latter top-scoring on an unbeaten 28.
Sri Lanka, who topped the points table with an excellent net run rate before this game, finished the group stage in second place. They will face Afghanistan on 26 January and South Africa on 29 January in the Super Six stage — both of whom were beaten by Sri Lanka earlier in the warm-up games.
Australia won all three group matches, and the defending champions will take on South Africa on 25th January and West Indies on 28th January in the next round.
All ICC Men’s U19 World Cup matches can be watched LIVE & EXCLUSIVELY on Dialog Television – the official broadcasting partner in Sri Lanka – through all ThePapare channels as well as on ThePapare.com and the Dialog Play App.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dimantha Mahavithana | c Oliver Peake b Charles Lachmund | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Viran Chamuditha | lbw b Charles Lachmund | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14.29 |
| Dulnith Sigera | c Jayden Draper b Will Byrom | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Vimath Dinsara | c Oliver Peake b Will Byrom | 7 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 70.00 |
| Kavija Gamage | c Jayden Draper b Will Byrom | 10 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 90.91 |
| Chamika Heenatigala | c Alex Lee Young b Hayden Schiller | 14 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Aadham Hilmy | c Alex Lee Young b Will Byrom | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
| Sethmika Seneviratne | b Kasey Barton | 5 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Rasith Nimsara | c Oliver Peake b Kasey Barton | 6 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 42.86 |
| Vigneshwaran Akash | not out | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 11.11 |
| Kugathas Mathulan | c Steven Hogan b Will Byrom | 6 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 46.15 |
| Extras | 6 (b 0 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 5, pen 0) |
| Total | 58/10 (18.5 Overs, RR: 3.08) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Lachmund | 5 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 3.80 | |
| Will Byrom | 6.5 | 0 | 14 | 5 | 2.15 | |
| Hayden Schiller | 3 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 3.67 | |
| Kasey Barton | 4 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 3.25 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Will Malajczuk | b Rasith Nimsara | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 80.00 |
| Nitesh Samuel | not out | 19 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 47.50 |
| Steven Hogan | not out | 28 | 27 | 3 | 0 | 103.70 |
| Extras | 11 (b 1 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 9, pen 0) |
| Total | 62/1 (12 Overs, RR: 5.17) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rasith Nimsara | 3 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 6.67 | |
| Kugathas Mathulan | 3 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 4.67 | |
| Viran Chamuditha | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2.00 | |
| Vigneshwaran Akash | 2 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7.00 | |
| Kavija Gamage | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6.00 | |
 in Windhoek.){kind=link}