Gerhard Erasmus reflects on historic triumph over Sri Lanka
Namibia skipper Gerhard Erasmus expressed his delight to secure a comprehensive victory by 55 runs over Sri Lanka on Sunday (October 16) in Geelong.
Invited to bat first, Namibia endured a bad start with early dismissals of their openers. However, the middle-order batters stitched partnerships to resurrect the team's innings.
The contributions from all-rounders Jan Frylinck (44) and JJ Smit (31*) paved the way for them to post 163 on the board. In response, Sri Lanka were left reeling at 40/4 in the seventh over.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa (20) and Dasun Shanaka (29) helped Sri Lanka to end on 108, and cut the losing deficit. Bernard Scholtz, David Wiese and Frylick were clinical with their line length to secure two wickets each.
In this regard, Erasmus thinks it was a historic victory for the Namibian team and would look to continue their rich form to seal the place in the Super 12 stage. Furthermore, he added that assistant coach Albie Morkel has instilled a winning culture among the group, which has helped them to be confident in big tournaments.
"It's been an incredible journey. Last year was amazing and then to get this win is great. But a lot of work to do as we go forward and go further in this tournament. Yes, Albie has turned it around as he has instilled the winning culture," said Erasmus.
"A lot of hard work goes behind the scenes and the way we have done it in this game has been amazing and credit to everyone out there. "
Namibia will next clash against the Netherlands in their second fixture of the preliminary round of T20 WC on Tuesday (October 18). The victory in this game would put them in advantage position to qualify for the Super 12 stage.
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