Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera added 127 runs from 70 balls for the second wicket on Friday, September 26, in the India-Sri Lanka Asia Cup 2025 Super 4s match. Their super batting performances in the 203-run
chase helped them break Virat Kohli and KL Rahul’s record of the highest partnership in Asia Cup T20Is.
During the India-Afghanistan match played in Dubai on September 8, 2022, Rahul and Kohli added 119 runs for the first wicket.
Highest partnership in Asia Cup T20Is
| RUNS | WICKET | PLAYERS | TEAM | AGAINST | VENUE | DATE |
| 127 | 2nd | Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera | Sri Lanka | India | Dubai | September 26, 2025 |
| 119 | 1st | KL Rahul, Virat Kohli | India | Afghanistan | Dubai | September 8, 2022 |
| 116 | 2nd | Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman | Pakistan | Hong Kong | Sharjah | September 2, 2022 |
| 114* | 4th | Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik | Pakistan | UAE | Mirpur | February 29, 2016 |
| 110 | 1st | Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dinesh Chandimal | Sri Lanka | Pakistan | Mirpur | March 4, 2016 |
| 105 | 1st | Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma | India | Pakistan | Dubai | September 21, 2025 |
Perera scored 58 runs from 32 balls and, during his stay at the crease in the 203-run chase, hammered 8 fours and 1 six. On the other hand, Nissanka made 107 runs from 58 balls. He slammed 7 fours and 6 sixes for the Charith Asalanka-led side before getting out on the first ball of the 20th over.
Meanwhile, Perera was stumped out by Sanju Samson off Varun Chakaravarthy’s bowling on the second ball of the 13th over.
Nissanka creates history
During the India-Sri Lanka match, which Sri Lanka lost in the Super Over, Nissanka scored 107 runs from 58 balls and broke multiple batting records. He first became the first Sri Lankan and overall third batter to score a century in the T20I format of the Asia Cup and then also broke Virat Kohli’s record of scoring the most runs in Asia Cup T20Is.
Batters to score century in Asia Cup T20Is
| BATTER | TEAM | RUNS | BALLS | 4/6s | AGAINST | VENUE | DATE |
| Babar Hayat | Hong Kong | 122 | 60 | 9/7 | Oman | Fatullah | February 19, 2016 |
| Virat Kohli | India | 122* | 61 | 12/6 | Afghanistan | Dubai | September 8, 2022 |
| Pathum Nissanka | Sri Lanka | 107 | 58 | 7/6 | India | Dubai | September 26, 2025 |
The right-handed opening batter has 434 runs in 12 Asia Cup T20I matches, whereas Kohli finished his career with 429 runs in 10 Asia Cup T20I matches.
Most runs in Asia Cup T20Is
| PLAYER | COUNTRY | MATCHES | RUNS | BEST SCORE |
| Pathum Nissanka | Sri Lanka | 12 | 434 | 107 |
| Virat Kohli | India | 10 | 429 | 122* |
| Abhishek Sharma | India | 6 | 309 | 75 |
| Babar Hayat | Hong Kong | 8 | 292 | 122 |
| Mohammad Rizwan | Pakistan | 6 | 281 | 78* |
But despite Nissanka’s super show with the bat, Sri Lanka suffered a heartbreaking defeat against India in the Super Over.
