Sydney: Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka is hopeful his side can still bounce back and clinch a semifinal berth in the ICC T20 World Cup despite the Asia Cup champions suffering another shattering defeat at the hands of New Zealand at SCG on Saturday.
Sri Lanka slumped to 102 in 19.2 overs in the chase of the Kiwis’ 167/7 and are currently on fifth spot in Group 1 with just two points from three games and a dismal net run rate of -0.890.
Sri Lanka have just one win from three games and will need to register emphatic wins from their remaining matches against Afghanistan and England to have any chance of qualifying for the semis.
Best cricket
But Shanaka is not giving up hope yet and thinks Sri Lanka can still qualify if they can play their best cricket during the remainder of the Super 12 stages.
“I think we can still bounce back from this point,” Shanaka said after the loss to New Zealand. “We have bounced back in the past, especially this young team. So they have gone through a lot of hard times. So I think we still can bounce back from this situation and manage to get to the semis.”
Sri Lanka made a bright start to their Super 12 clash against New Zealand in Sydney as they picked up early wickets to reduce New Zealand to 15/3 after four overs. But a brilliant century to Glenn Phillips and several dropped catches saw the Kiwis post 167/7.
Dropped catches
“I thought we started really well, but the dropped catches, that’s a game changer in this game,” Shanaka said. “It was an outstanding knock (from Phillips) on a tough wicket. He took a while to get settled in, and then he got his timing (right) and there was a lot of time to hit the ball.”
Shanaka said his team must re-group quickly when they take on Afghanistan at The Gabba on Tuesday. “We don’t want to blame anyone. What we need to do is to regroup in the next game and come (back) sharp in the next two games,” Shanaka was quoted as saying by ICC.
“Today is the worst day with batting. I think it was the worst we’ve played with batting. So what is important is to re-group as a batting unit and win the next two games.”
