T20 World Cup Qualifiers, Sri Lanka beat Namibia: Records broken
Sri Lanka opened their campaign in the ICC T20 World Cup qualifying stage with a win over beaten Namibia. They claimed a seven-wicket win to solidify their chances of making the Super 12 stage. The likes of Bhanuka Rajapaksa (42*) and Avishka Fernando (30*) helped them chase 97. Sri Lanka will next face Ireland and Netherlands in their following Group A clashes.
Namibia had a patchy start after Sri Lanka elected to field. Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, and Maheesh Theekshana restricted the batters in the powerplay. Although Craig Williams and Gerhard Erasmus made a brief recovery for Namibia, Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana mowed down their middle order. Namibia were eventually bundled out for 96.
Dasun Shanaka played his 50th T20 International. He has become the 10th player from Sri Lanka to appear in 50 games in the format. The other nine players are Lasith Malinga (84), Thisara Perera (84), Tillakaratne Dilshan (80), Angelo Mathews (78), Dinesh Chandimal (60), Nuwan Kulasekara (58), Kumar Sangakkara (56), Mahela Jayawardene (55), and Kusal Perera (53).
Right-arm spinner Maheesh Theekshana was the pick of Sri Lanka's bowlers. He snapped up three wickets for just 25 runs on his T20 World Cup debut. Lahiru Kumara gave away just nine runs in 3.3 overs. He scalped two wickets. Wanindu Hasaranga registered figures of 2/24 in four overs. Besides, Chamika Karunaratne and Dushmantha Chameera took a solitary wicket each.
Sri Lanka and Namibia faced each other for the first time in T20 Internationals. Namibia made their debut at the T20 World Cup. This was their 23rd appearance in the shortest format. They lost a T20I after winning six consecutive games.
