Sri Lanka got off to a disastrous start at the T20 Cricket World Cup unbecoming of the image they carried into the tournament as Asian champs only to lose to Namibia that bagged the goose by 55 runs while defending 163 runs in the opening match of the qualifying round stage in Geelong, Australia yesterday.
It was more about how Sri Lanka lost and not about why they lost as Namibia put up a show that even their own camp would not have expected.
Sri Lanka dominated the match only for 15 overs after they put Namibia into bat first and had them at 95 for 6 and looked set to wrap up the contest as many would have expected.
But that was all Sri Lanka could have bragged about as Namibia’s seventh wicket pair of Jan Frylinck (44) and JJ Smit (31 not out) plundered 68 runs in the last five overs to give their team the ultimate boost with which to go out and bowl in defending a 163 total.
Contrastingly Sri Lanka’s fast bowling trio of Dushmantha Chameera, Pramodh Madushanka and Chamika Karunaratne conceded 112 runs from their 12 overs which was way beyond expectations.
Sri Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka de Silva hit the first ball for a four in pursuit of the target but ironically the shot was the only one that caused an anxious moment for the Namibian team that did not put a foot wrong as they kept pecking away wickets at regular intervals. They held on to as many as nine catches while inflicting one run-out in a surgical display of professionalism.
With the Namibian bowlers keeping to a steady line and length and not giving any room for free stroke-play, the Sri Lankan batters could only play shots in desperation which found the safe hands of the fielders.
The termination of Sri Lanka’s run-chase can be put down to the fourth over when fast bowler Ben Shikongo plucked the scalps of Pathum Nissanka (9) caught at mid-on and Dhanushka Gunathilaka caught behind for a first-ball duck to leave Sri Lanka at 21 for 3 after opener Kusal Mendis was dismissed for 6 in the second over.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa survived the hat-trick ball from Shikongo after an LBW review against him taken by Namibia showed the ball pitching outisde the leg-stump.
But Rajapaksa was not a patch of what he was in the final of the Asia Cup and could not go beyong a score of 20, caught near the mid-wicket boundary playing one of his favourite leg-side shots.
Dasun Shanaka’s innings was terminated with his score on 29 and before him fell Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva who in an effort to play some of his swashbuckling off-side shots was caught near the boundary against a ball from left arm spinner Bernard Scholtz for just four runs made off eight balls.
Sri Lanka could not even bat the 20 overs, all out for 108 in 19 overs.
It would have been unfair to pick a player for the man-of-the-match award, but Jan Frylinch found himsef on the podium for his 44 with the bat and 2 for 26 with the ball as the sixth bowler deployed by Namibia.
Scores:
Namibia 163 for 7 in 20 overs (Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton 20, Stephan Baard 26, Gerhard Erasmus 20, Jan Frylinck 44, JJ Smit 31 not out, Pramodh Madushan 2 for 37)
Sri Lanka 108 in 19 overs (Bhanuka Rajapaksa 20, Dasun Shanaka 29, David Wiese 2 for 16, Bernard Scholtz 2 for 18, Ben Shikongo 2 for 22, Jan Frylinck 2 for 26)
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