“Execution was not there”: Dasun Shanaka rues lack of executing plans vs Namibia in T20 World Cup 2022 opener

Dasun Shanaka rues lack of executing plans: The Sri Lankan captain highlighted errors after a humiliating loss.

Namibia defeating Sri Lanka by 55 runs has come as a proper upset right at the start of ICC T20 World Cup 2022. While there’s nothing novel in an underdog team beating an in-form team, the same happening in the first match of the tournament has it in it to beware players from taking any team lightly.

A batting collapse allowed Sri Lanka to score 108 in 19 overs whilst chasing a 164-run target in Geelong today. An innings which was bereft of momentum, Sri Lanka kept losing wickets at regular intervals to not even dominate for a moment in the second innings.

Having lost half their side around the halfway mark, Sri Lanka were in need of a miraculous partnership but were left reeling in the absence of the same.

An all-round bowling effort saw as many as four Namibian bowlers namely David Wiese, Bernard Scholtz, Ben Shikongo and Jan Frylinck picking a couple of wickets each.

Asked to bat first by Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka (29), even Namibia hadn’t managed a strong start but were able to stage a fabulous recovery on the back of a 34-ball 70-run seventh-wicket partnership between Frylinck (44) and JJ Smit (31*). Smit, in particular, played a game-changing innings hitting two fours and sixes each at a strike rate of 193.75.

Dasun Shanaka rues lack of executing plans vs Namibia in T20 World Cup 2022 opener

Shanaka rued lack of executing their plans as a major reason behind a humiliating loss at the GMHBA Stadium on a Sunday evening. Having pinpointed both his bowlers needing to step up in the death overs and top-order batters required to provide strong starts, Shanaka admitted to have not played according to their potential.

“I think the surface played really well but the execution was not there when it comes to the bowling. We’re concerned whether our bowlers bowled in the right areas as compared to the Namibian bowlers,” Shanaka told the broadcaster during the post-match presentation ceremony.

Shanaka, who had led Sri Lanka to an Asia Cup title just over a month ago, spoke against making massive changes to their Playing XI for the next match against United Arab Emirates at the same venue on Tuesday. Instead, the 31-year old player laid emphasis on “keeping things simple” in a bid to return to winning ways.