GEELONG: The embarrassing 55-run loss for Sri Lanka versus Namibia in the Group A First Round match of the ICC T20 World Cup was ascribed by the captain to his bowlers "trying too much" and resulting in poor execution of low full tosses and half volleys.
Sri Lanka, which was feeling confident after winning the Asia Cup in the UAE recently and defeating Pakistan in the championship match, collapsed against Namibia on Sunday, scoring just 108 runs in their pursuit of 163, and were in danger of being eliminated early from the international competition.
The Islanders' fate may still depend on net run rate if they win their final two Group A games against the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates (NRR).
Shanaka stated, "I believe they (the Sri Lankan bowlers) tried too hard." "We struggled to carry out our plans. I believe that instead of executing with low full tosses and half volleys, we went for the yorkers. I believe that was the problem. I believe the outcome would have been different if they had stuck to that challenging length, wicket-to-wicket, as the Namibian bowlers did incredibly, exceptionally well "ICC cited the skipper as having said.
Although Shanaka's team was the clear favourite to advance from Group A and into the Super 12 stage, the captain had a troubled expression on Sunday. "The concern is how we played." When the Islanders had Namibia in trouble at 93/6 with fewer than six overs left in the game, a 55-run loss seemed far away.
However, errant death bowling along with excellent innings from Jan Frylinck and JJ Smit allowed Namibia to reach 163/7 from their allotted 20 overs. Namibia advanced to the Super 12 round of the competition in 2021, and captain Gerhard Erasmus stated that his team has gained a lot of confidence from that experience.
I think this year it was more that we've played at the level and we can now psychologically relate to this level; we can now physically and skillfully relate to this level, according to Erasmus, who admitted that he had a type of childlike belief before that game last year.
"All of these teams -- India, Pakistan--have already faced us. We've experienced it firsthand, we've tasted it, and I believe that's what gave us the conviction this time around. We bridged the gap by moving closer to them and experiencing it firsthand" He says.
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