Sri Lanka vs Oman T20 Cricket World Cup Predictions - Kusal Mendis to school the Oman attack

Simon Lewis

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Last updated: 11 Feb 2026

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Simon Lewis 11 Feb 2026

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Kusal Mendis top-scored with 56* off 43 balls against Ireland.
Vinayak Shukla has scored 51*, 48, 30*, 32, 39* and 28 in his last eight innings.
Can Sri Lanka score a big win over Oman as they push to finish top of the table?

Kusal Mendis pulls against Ireland (Getty Images).

Sri Lanka vs Oman Predictions

Sri Lanka scored a solid win over Ireland and will be pleased with the way their bowlers ran through the Ireland middle- and lower-order once they had made the key breakthrough. Oman were hammered by Zimbabwe, with their batters failing to cope with their attack. It’s hard to see Oman picking up any points in this tournament, so I’m backing a big Sri Lanka win.

Sri Lanka vs Oman Predictions
Head-to-Head
Sri Lanka Form
Oman Form
Sri Lanka vs Oman Team News & Squads

Sri Lanka’s Kusal Mendis has scored 20, 37, 32, 26 & 56* in his last 5 innings.
Sri Lanka’s Kamindu Mendis scored 44 off 19 balls against Ireland.
Oman’s Vinayak Shukla top-scored with 28 off 21 balls against Zimbabwe.
Oman’s Sufyan Mehmood scored 25 off 39 balls against Zimbabwe.

Head-to-Head

This will be the first time the teams have met in the World Cup or even in a T20I match.

Sri Lanka Form

Sri Lanka bounced back from losing their T20I series against England 3-0 by completing a comfortable 20-run win over Ireland.

Pathum Nissanka (24 off 23) and Kamil Mishara (14 off 11) gave Sri Lanka a solid start, but after they both fell the co-hosts were struggling at 86/4 in the 14th over. Kusal Mendis (56* off 43) and Kamindu Mendis (44 off 19) gave their innings the impetus it needed to reach a defendable score for 163/6, adding 67 for the fifth wicket in just under five overs.

Ireland were well-placed to push for victory at 105/2 after 14 overs, but Zimbabwe struck hard and fast to dismiss them for 143 with one ball to spare. Zimbabwe picked up eight wickets for 38 runs, with Maheesh Theekshana (3/23), Matheesha Pathirana (2/26) and Wanindu Hasaranga (3/25) starring with the ball.

Oman Form

Oman’s batters folded against Zimbabwe and were rolled for just 103 off 19.5 overs, giving their bowlers nothing to defend against a strong Zimbabwe batting unit.

Experienced opening pair Jatinder Singh and Aamir Kaleem both scored just five runs in the opener against Zimbabwe, having scored 28, 80 and 23 (Kaleem) and 33 and 55 (Singh) in their last four innings. Oman will be hoping for a good start from the pair as they seek what would be just their third win in T20 World Cups.

Middle-order batters Hammad Mirza (28, 32 & 35) and Wasim Ali (30 & 54*) have been in reasonable form in their last five matches but also failed to fire against Zimbabwe. Batting at six and seven, Sufyan Mehmood (25 off 39) and Vinayak Shukla (28 off 21) were the only two batters in the top eight to score more than five runs.

Sufyan Mehmood followed up his figures of 3/22 against Zimbabwe in their warm-up match with a return of 2/12 (econ 4.00), picking up the only two Zimbabwe wickets to fall as they completed a comfortable win off 13.3 overs. Wasim Ali (0/10, econ 5.00) and Shah Faisal (0/13, econ 6.50) both bowled two tight overs.

Sri Lanka vs Oman Team News & Squads

Wanindu Hasaranga has been ruled out of the rest of the T20 World Cup due to a major tear in his left hamstring. His place in the squad has been taken by Dushan Hemantha. Hasaranga is Sri Lanka’s star bowler in T20Is, taking 40 wickets (econ 6.01) in 20 bowling innings in T20 World Cups.

Sri Lanka’s captain, Dasun Shanaka, expressed his pride with his team’s performance in the post-match presentation after completing their victory over Ireland. “It was a well-earned victory. I’m very happy about the overall performance. The start was a bit of a struggle but Kusal held it in the end, with Kamindu's cameo the turning point. He batted like he was on a different wicket. Really happy with his comeback and expect a lot from him in the coming games,” said Shanaka.

The all-rounder admitted he had expected the wicket to be flatter considering all the grass that had been left on the wicket. “I initially thought the toss would play a crucial part but it helped us in the second phase as the pitch slowed down a bit. The confidence from our bowling unit carries over from the last game,” added Shanaka.

Speaking to the TV commentators right after their defeat to Zimbabwe, Oman skipper Jatinder Singh was unhappy that his side didn’t post a bigger score: "We were asked to bat first, and I don't think we put enough runs on the board. It's too much to ask the bowlers to defend 104; as a batting unit, we simply didn't click. In a T20 game, you need around 160 or 170 to give your bowlers a total they can actually fight with,” said Singh.

“We played a warm-up game, so we were ready for it, but the bounce on this particular pitch was a bit more than we experienced in the practice matches. We just had to cope with it. Like I said, you need a competitive score to give the bowlers a chance. Sufyan and Mehmood bowled really well, as did Faisal, and our fielding was also quite good, so we can carry those things forward,” added Singh.

Sri Lanka (possible XI): Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis, Pavan Rathnayake, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka (c), Dushan Hemantha, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Dushmantha Chameera.

Oman (possible XI): Jatinder Singh (c), Hammad Mirza, Aamir Kaleem, Wasim Ali, Karan Sonavale, Nadeem Khan, Vinayak Shukla, Jiten Ramanandi, Sufyan Mehmood, Shakeel Ahmad, Faisal Shah.