Africa-Press – Namibia. Avishka Fernando was in excellent form in the T20I series against Oman. Sri Lanka and Namibia are set to lock horns in Match No.4 of the T20 World Cup Qualifiers on Monday, October 18 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The Lankans have had a decent run of form of late. To start with, they defeated Zeeshan Maqsood’s Oman in the two-match ODI series.
Thereafter, they defeated Sri Lanka by four runs in the first warmup game and then defeated PNG by 39 runs. Namibia, on the other hand, lost both their warm-up games to Oman and Scotland respectively. However, they had a decent run of form in the Summer T20 Bash earlier this month.
Match Details Match – Sri Lanka vs Namibia – Match 4 Venue – Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi Time – 07:30 PM IST, 02:00 PM GMT Where to watch live – Star Sports Network Pitch Report
The pitch in Abu Dhabi has generally been good for batting. But at the international level, the venue has witnessed low-scoring affairs. The track, however, has helped the chasing teams. Batting second should be the way forward.
Average First Innings score: 142 (48 T20Is in Abu Dhabi) Record of Chasing teams: Won – 25, Lost – 23, Tied – 0 Probable Playing XIs Sri Lanka Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Kusal Perera, Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (C), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Lahiru Kumara, Akila Dananjaya, Dushmantha Chameera
Bench: Maheesh Theekshana, Pathum Nissanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Binura Fernando Namibia Stephan Baard, Zane Green (wk), Craig Williams, Gerhard Erasmus (c), David Wiese, JJ Smit, Jan Frylinck, Bernard Scholtz, Ruben Trumpelmann, Ben Shikongo, Pikky Ya France
Bench: Karl Birkenstock, Michau du Preez, Michael van Lingen, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton Head-to-head Sri Lanka and Namibia are yet to face each other in T20Is. Probable best batter of the match Avishka Fernando (Sri Lanka)
Avishka Fernando generally opens the batting for Sri Lanka in T20Is, but in the games against Oman, he came in the middle-order. However, the change in position didn’t ruffle him by any means. He scored an unbeaten 81 in the first game and also played fluently in the second match. Fernando also played at a strike rate of 150.64. Probable best bowler of the match Lahiru Kumara (Sri Lanka)
Lahiru Kumara is known for hitting the back of a length on the consistent basis. He was outstanding in the T20I series against Oman. In the first game, he picked up four wickets to help the Lankans to a victory. In the second game, the fast bowler picked up two wickets. He is expected to play a critical role against Oman as well.
