World Cup T20: Sri Lanka make strong comeback against UAE after shock defeat to Namibia

Nerlands me heavy wear of a small target before eking out a five-wicket win against Namibia in T20 World Cup here on Tuesday.

This is Nerlands' second victory in as many games and keeps m firmly in contention for a place in next round.

Nerlands dished out a fine bowling effort to restrict Namibia to 121 for six before taking game deep. y completed task in 19.3 overs in ir first round Group A match.

Sitting pretty at 92 for one, Nerlands me a harakiri towards end to allow Namibia to make a comeback.

Vikramjit Singh (39 off 31) and Max O'Dowd (35 off 35) got Nerlands' chase off to a blazing start, sharing 59 runs for opening wicket.

However, from 92 for one, Nerlands slumped to 101 for four, thanks to twin blows from left-arm pacer JJ Smit (2/24) in 16th over.

Skipper Scott Edwards did good and perished in next over.

But Bas de Leede (30 t out off 30) held his nerves, and in company of Tim Pringle (8 t out), saw Nerlands home with a 20-run stand.

Earlier, de Leede (2/18) shone with ball as well, to help Nerlands restrict Namibia to modest total.

Besides, Roelof van der Merwe (1/6), Pringle (1/15), Colin Ackermann (1/17) and Paul van Meekeren (1/18) also registered ir names in wicket column for Nerlands.

Electing to bat, Namibia endured a poor start, losing ir first three wickets for 32 runs.

Jan Frylinck (43) tried to resurrect Namibia's innings in company of skipper Gerhard Erasmus' (16) before de Leede accounted for both batters in a span of three balls in 19th over.

Michael van Lingen (20) and Stephan Baard (19) got starts at top before being dismissed.

David Wiese (11 t out) and Smit (5 t out) remained unbeaten for Namibia.

With two wins from as many games, Nerlands topped Group A ahe of Namibia (2 points from 2 games), and are better placed to qualify for Super 12 st.

Nerlands h defeated UAE by three wickets in ir opener, while Namibia stunned Sri Lanka by 55 runs.

With two good outings, Nerlands skipper Edwards is er to finish off ir campaign on a positive te.

"We did well in terms of front-loing runs. We knew Namibia h some great bowlers in those conditions. It's well and truly in our hands, but for us, it's just about winning third game," he said after match.

Namibia captain Erasmus said batting was a bit difficult on this wicket.

"Never nice to be on losing side...With bat it seemed difficult for both sides. y ran better. We tried our best," he said.

Sri Lanka make strong comeback, beat UAE by 79

Surprised by Namibia in ir tournament opener, Sri Lanka me a strong comeback, thrashing UAE by a massive 79 runs to better ir net run rate, which got a beating in first match.

Opener Pathum Nissanka hit a 60-ball 74 with help of six boundaries and two hits over fence to take Sri Lanka to 152 for 8.

It was a yet again an unimpressive batting display from Sri Lanka, as besides Nissanka, Dhananjaya de Silva (33) and Kusal Mendis (18) were only two batters to register double digit scores.

Asked to bat, Sri Lanka were cruising at one st at 92 for 2 before leg-spinner Karthik Meiyappan (3/19) claimed a hat-trick in 15th over, dismissing Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Charith Asalanka and Dasun Shanaka as Islanders slumped to 117 for 5.

Despite wickets falling at or end, Nissanka kept Sri Lanka's scoreboard ticking and was last to be dismissed in penultimate ball of innings, but t before helping his team cross 15-run mark.

UAE never looked in chase as right-arm fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera (3/15) inflicted early dam with wickets of Muhamm Waseem, Aryan Lakra and captain Chundangapoyil Rizwan to break opponent's backbone.

From re on it was always an uphill task for UAE as y kept losing wickets at regular intervals to be bowled out for 73 in 17.1 overs.

Aayan Afzal Khan (19) was top-scorer for UAE.

Besides Chameera, leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva (3/8) and Maheesh ekshana (2/15) also chipped in with a few wickets.

Sri Lanka will take on Nerlands in a must-win last group match on Thursday, while Namibia will be up against UAE. PTI SSC SSC KHS KHS