Interesting happenings at the Abu Dhabi Zayed cricket stadium on Wednesday

 By K.R. Nayar

From a disastrous start of 8 for 3 to going on to post over 150 runs by Sri Lanka, it happened for the first time in a T20 World Cup. Some wise batting by Namibia’s hero David Wiese, who knows the UAE wickets having played in Pakistan Super League (PSL) here before, helped Namibia beat Netherlands for their first victory in T20 World Cup. With the exception of one question in English, the post-match press conference was all in Sinhalese with Sri Lanka’s Mahesh Theekshana

Hero of Sri Lanka's victory Wanindu Hasaranga. Photo: ICC

Netherlands and Ireland land with defeats after giving hope

Netherlands and Ireland landed up getting defeated after lighting up hopes of a victory on Wednesday at the Abu Dhabi Zayed Cricket Stadium.  The Netherlands posted an impressive score of 164 for 4, and yet lost by six wickets to Namibia. Ireland despite reducing Sri Lanka to 8 for 3 crashed to a 70-run defeat.
What was special about Sri Lanka’s fightback and triumph is that this is the first instance when a team has managed to score 150+ runs after being in such a difficult situation. The previous highest by a Test-playing nation was Australia's 147 for 6 against England in the finals of the 2010 World T20. Australia too was 8 for 3 with Shane Watson, David Warner, and Brad Haddin, all getting out in 2.1 overs. However, unlike Sri Lanka, Australia lost the match.

Wise batting by David Wiese and his PSL experience

Namibia won mainly due to some wise batting by David Wiese (66n.o). Having watched a few good knocks from Wiese during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) when he played for Lahore Qalandars, when he was asked about how playing those knocks in the UAE had helped him play his innings yesterday, his response was apt for all those looking to play on the UAE wickets. “It's a wicket where you need to take your time a little bit more to get in just to get used to the pace. Most of the wickets in the UAE skid through a little bit more. It's a little more difficult to start off quite quickly. So you've just got to take a little bit of that pressure and give yourself some time, know that the ball flies over your head, and here's always a wind that's pushing towards the boundary. Once you take your time and you get in, you can always catch up towards the end.”

David Wiese. Photo: ICC

Wiese was born in South Africa and is representing Namibia since his father was born in Namibia. Interestingly, he made his ODI and Twenty20 debut for South Africa. Answering to a query about his parents, he said that his parents still live in South Africa and that they have been watching him play this knock from Pretoria. He went on to thank his parents, saying “I'm sure they'll be very proud of this moment. They've supported me throughout my career. They've given me all the opportunities that I needed to be in this situation now. So I hope that I've made them proud, and all the hard work and effort that they've put in over the years to support me. Yeah, I just hope that I've made them happy.”

Mahesh Theekshana. Photo: ICC

All questions in Sinhalese except one for Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s off spinner Mahesh Theekshana, who bagged three wickets for 17 runs to ensure his team an impressive win over Ireland, represented Sri Lanks for the post-match press conference. Most questions posed to him from the Sri Lankan journalists were in Sinhalese, including the ones on Zoom.  The only questions in English were when I asked him about their poor start of 8 for 3 and how it felt when the Sri Lankan fans at the stadium kept cheering the team out of trouble. Theekshana said:  “The fan support was good and there were many fans here today. Yes, we did have a bad start, and such things can happen. Our top order didn't score, but I think we countered that because we had our trump card (Wanindu Hasaranga). He played really well.”