Sri Lanka opt to bowl against Namibia in opener

Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka won the toss and elected to bowl against Namibia in the opening match of the T20 World Cup in Geelong on Sunday.

The Asia Cup champions were hit by an injury to left-arm quick bowler Dilshan Madushanka and brought in Dushmantha Chameera and Pramod Madushan.

“It’s a first game, we’d like to have a look at the wicket. The boys are very confident,” Shanaka said at the toss.

“We got the same combination that we had in the Asia Cup. With the bowling we have, we’d look to restrict them to a decent score.”

Namibia skipper Gerhard Erasmus said he would have also fielded had he won the toss. His side are looking to repeat last year’s feat of making the Super 12 on their T20 World Cup debut.

“Both captains would have liked to bowl first. The unknown factor of exactly how the wicket will play and a bit of overhead conditions,” said Erasmus.

The teams will each play three first-round matches in their attempt to make the Super 12 stage.

“It’s three games, three games of your life. You need to be on top from the start. If we can start well with the bat, put some pressure on them, that’ll go a long way into making it a very tight game.”

Namibia: Stephan Baard, David Wiese, Gerhard Erasmus (capt), Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, JJ Smit, Jan Frylinck, Zane Green (wk), Divan la Cock, Michael van Lingen, Bernard Scholtz, Ben Shikongo

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Danushka Gunathilaka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (capt), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Pramod Madushan, Maheesh Theekshana

Umpires: Joel Wilson (WIS), Rod Tucker (AUS)

TV Umpire: Paul Reiffel (AUS)

Match Referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)