Rex Clementine in Geelong
Senior cricket writer Telford Vice of South Africa had written that Group ‘A’ of the World Cup qualifiers is a battle between Davids and Goliath. Associate nations Namibia, UAE and Netherlands were the Davids while former champions Sri Lanka were Goliath. Vice had to be reminded that Goliath had been defeated according to the Bible. True to form, Namibia handed Sri Lanka a shocking defeat in the tournament opener here in Geelong yesterday.Sri Lanka hardly competed in the game after being set 164 as they were shot out for 108 runs inside 20 overs. The 55 run defeat means that Sri Lanka’s Net Run Rate is poor and with rain predicted for Thursday, Dasun Shanaka’s side is under pressure.
Shanaka though argued that his side had started off in similar fashion in the Asia Cup where they lost to Afghanistan before going onto win five games in a row and clinch the trophy. The Sri Lankan captain also admitted that his team had lot of brushing up to do particularly bowling in the death overs and losing too many wickets in the Power Plays.When David Wiese, the opposition’s best batter was dismissed in the 15th over, the score was 93 for six and Namibia were in danger of being bowled out inside 20 overs.
But Jan Frylinck and J.J. Smit put up a brilliant display to pull the side out of trouble as they added 70 runs in 34 deliveries. Seamer Ben Shikongo was the pick of the bowlers as he bowled a double wicket maiden picking up the wickets of Pathum Nissanka and Danushka Gunathilaka in successive deliveries.The fifth wicket partnership between Dasun Shanaka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa kept Sri Lanka’s hopes alive but both batsmen fell attempting to clear the boundary and Namibia’s catching was outstanding.
Sri Lanka’s fans had turned up in numbers at Geelong, one hour’s drive from Melbourne, a city that has the largest Sri Lankan population out of the country. But they were in for a huge disappointment although that didn’t stop the papare band from playing.The defeat could be a blessing in disguise as ending runners-up in Group ‘A’ will help Sri Lanka avoid the tough group of England, Australia and New Zealand in the second round. Instead, they will play Bangladesh, India, ,South Africa and Pakistan.