Sri Lanka head coach Chris Silverwood said on Tuesday that he is confident that the islanders will be able to qualify for the Super 12 stage of fhe T20 World Cup in Australia. Silverwood expressed delight with the way Sri Lanka bounced back from their loss to Namibia to outclass UAE in their second Group A match in Round of 1 of the World Cup on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka, who were on a high after winning the Asia Cup in September, were stunned by Namibia by 55 runs in their World Cup opener earlier on Sunday. Dasun Shanaka’s men were in danger of bowing out of the competition ahead of their crunch match against the UAE.
Sri Lanka are still at the 3rd spot in the 4-team Group A table in Round 1 but their NRR of +0.600 is the second-best in the group. The Netherlands are on top of the group with wins over Namibia and the UAE while Namibia are in the second spot. A win over the Netherlands in their final group match will help Sri Lanka to progress to the next stage of the World Cup. Sri Lanka take on the Netherlands on October 20.
“I’m always confident. I’m the eternal optimist. We’ll always be looking to win and obviously progress. I’m confident in the boys’ ability. But at the same time we have to make sure we turn up, we put in a performance like we did tonight, because as we’ve seen these teams here are dangerous. We’ve got to make sure we give them the respect they deserve and come out fighting,” Silverwood told the press after their win over the UAE.
