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02/16 12:19 CST Nissanka's unbeaten 100 advances Sri Lanka at the T20 World Cup and blows away Australia Nissanka's unbeaten 100 advances Sri Lanka at the T20 World Cup and blows away Australia PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka (AP) --- Pathum Nissanka's unbeaten 100 powered Sri Lanka into the T20 World Cup Super 8s and left former champion Australia's prospects hanging by a thread on Monday. Sri Lanka thrashed Australia by eight wickets with two overs to spare. Pavan Rathnayake hit the winning runs straight after Nissanka reached his century off 52 balls and was greeted by massive cheers in Pallekele International Stadium. The packed crowd roared again one delivery later when Rathanayake finished the match with a boundary to deep square. The third win from three matches ensured Sri Lanka advanced to the second round, two years after failing to do so for the first time at the T20 World Cup in the West Indies. Australia could be knocked out in the group stage for the first time since 2009 if unbeaten Zimbabwe beats Ireland on Tuesday. Meanwhile, England also reached the Super 8s after a surviving a scare from Italy in Kolkata. England came back from 105-5 to post 202-7. Italy was cut short on 178. In New Delhi, Afghanistan shrugged off back-to-back defeats to finally register a win after beating the United Arab Emirates by five wickets. That secured South Africa a spot in the Super 8s.

Nissanka unloads Despite the short boundaries, Australia was all out for 181 and Sri Lanka chased it down in style at 184-2. Kusal Mendis joined Nissanka at 8-1 and was the main aggressor in their 97-run stand off 66 balls. Mendis hit his third half-century of the tournament then was out for 51 off 38 in the 13th over. Nissanka then finished the match with Rathnayake, scoring 51 of the last 79 runs. He achieved his second T20 century and the second for Sri Lanka in men's T20 World Cup history after bashing five sixes and 10 boundaries. Rathnayake was 28 not out. The Australians started the match impressively. Captain Mitch Marsh, making his first tournament appearance after a groin injury and Travis Head opened with 104 runs off 51 deliveries. Head was 56 off 29 with three sixes and seven boundaries when he was caught at long-off. Cameron Green was stumped by Kusal Mendis on 3 and Marsh went in the next over, lbw to Dushan Hemantha, who took 3-37. Fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana injured his calf after only four deliveries and hobbled off with help, and Sri Lanka Cricket said he will undergo a scan on Tuesday. Australia was 151-4 after 15 overs but lost 30-6 in the last five, fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera claiming 3-36. "One of the best performances in the recent past," Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka said. "We were still positive after losing Pathirana. We had that confidence and knew about the wicket. Everyone wanted to contribute somehow: Chameera, Theekshana, Hemantha. Pathirana is a big miss.

England survives Italy England, defending 202, was threatened as No. 6 batter Grant Stewart hit 45 off 23. But Sam Curran (3-22) and Jamie Overton (3-18) held their nerve in the last two overs and Italy succumbed for 178. Ben Manenti smashed a swashbuckling 25-ball 60 with six sixes, reviving Italy from 22-3 with Justin Mosca. Then Manenti and Mosca fell within three overs of each other. Bowling allrounder Stewart, who had only two runs from Italy's previous two matches, took up the challenge. He and Jaspreet Singh took 21 runs in the 18th over off Adil Rashid and England was sweating. But when Stewart skewed Curran to short third in the 19th over Italy was done. England was also in deep trouble earlier at 105-5 in the 13th over with the Italians sharing the wickets around. Will Jacks saved the two-time champion English when he thumped 53 not out off 22 balls including four sixes. His and England's relief was palpable afterwards. "The most important thing is we've qualified but we need to be better, simple as that," Jacks said.

Afghanistan finally wins Afghanistan still had only a slim chance of advancing from Group D after its first win at the expense of UAE. The victory secured South Africa a spot in the Super 8s and New Zealand had a chance to secure the other group spot if it beats Canada in Chennai on Tuesday. UAE was restricted to 160-9 with Azmatullah Omarzai taking 4-15 in four overs. Omarzai then hit 40 not out off 21 balls and opener Ibrahim Zadran cracked 53 off 41 for Afghanistan to reach 162-5 with four balls to spare. ___ AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

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