Struggling Sri Lanka’s opponents in T20 WC qualifiers

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

David Wiese – Namibia

Graham Ford – Ireland

Ryan ten Doeschate - Netherlands

The Sri Lanka team for the T20 World Cup will leave for the first leg in Oman on Sunday (3 October) for two warm-up games against the Oman national team and two further ICC-organised warm-up matches in the UAE before

taking on Namibia, Ireland and Netherlands in the Qualifiers for a place in the Super12s.

This is the first time that Sri Lanka, one-time winner and two-time finalists of the T20 World Cup are facing such an ignominy of having to qualify for the tournament proper since the T20 World Cup was first played in 2007. Sri Lanka are faced with this plight because of their poor run in this format that saw them fail to gain automatic qualification to the Super 12s stage. They failed to finish in the top eight of the rankings during the cut-off stage as of 31 December 2018.

Sri Lanka continue to fare so poorly in T20I cricket that they are still languishing at number 10 in the ICC rankings, which has placed a question mark over their ability to qualify for a place in the Super12s. Compared to the three sides they are meeting in the first-round qualifiers – all of whom are Associate members, Sri Lanka as an established Test nation is expected to win their matches and gain qualification into the Super 12s, but in a T20I match even the best prepared teams can lose on a given day. Sri Lanka has to finish in the top two of their group to qualify for the Super12s.

Sri Lanka are due to meet Namibia on 18 October and Ireland on 20 October – both matches in Abu Dhabi, and Netherlands on 22 October at Sharjah. The following is a rundown on their 3 opponents:

Namibia

The presence of former South African all-rounder David Wiese, who has qualified by descent (father born in Namibia) and included in Namibia’s T20 World Cup squad is a tremendous boost for the country who are making their first appearance in a T20 World Cup. This will be Wiese’s second T20 World Cup, five years after his first, for South Africa. He has first-hand experience playing against Sri Lanka, having toured in 2013 with the South African side captained by Faf du Plessis and making his T20I debut in the three-match series won 2-1 by South Africa. He represented South Africa in 20 T20Is and has vast experience of playing franchise cricket around the world in India, West Indies, Pakistan, Bangladesh and England. Namibia also have South Africa-born Pierre de Bruyn (Head Coach) and Albie Morkel as part of their management team. Namibia beat Oman in the playoffs of the qualifiers in Dubai in October 2019 to qualify for the main event. Sri Lanka and Namibia have not met in white-ball cricket before.

Ireland

Like Sri Lanka, Ireland, currently 12th on the ICC T20I rankings have pushed back naming their final 15 for the T20 World Cup till 10 October, and for very good reasons. Their Head Coach is South African Graham Ford, no stranger to Sri Lanka. In delaying Ireland’s final squad Ford said: “We need to do quite a bit of studying of opposition squads and once we get an understanding of who is in those squads, the match-ups we look at and it›s not always on stats and things, we will have to factor in conditions. We will watch the IPL very closely, particularly towards the end of the IPL to see how the wickets are playing - that will all go into selection. It›s an 18-man squad with cover and options.»

With the T20 World Cup being played in the UAE where the IPL is currently taking place, Ford has a good point before selecting his squad. One plus factor for Ireland is that Ford knows the culture and the way the Sri Lankans play their cricket having been the national team’s head coach twice in 2012 and 2016, when he oversaw one of the team’s greatest ever Test series victories against Australia, when they won 3-0.

Ford is only well aware what his team is up against. 

“Netherlands are very competitive,” Ford said. 

“They beat us not long ago in the 50-over series, they had six players who were involved in the Hundred. There›s guys like Roelof [van der Merwe] that have been around for ages and ages and ignite the energy in the group, so we are well aware that›s going to be a huge game and makes things tougher for us.”

“And Namibia - I›ve watched a lot and seen the improvements there. I know they are working damn hard. They›ve got Albie Morkel helping out. They are in good shape and they are loading up a few South Africans as well. David Wiese is a serious match-winner. We are aware that every game is a major event for us and we are going to have to be at our best and hopefully the lads are up for all of that.”

Sri Lanka and Ireland have met once in a T20I during the 2009 T20 World Cup match at Lord’s with Sri Lanka winning by a narrow margin of 9 runs.

Netherlands

Netherlands’ strength is their fast bowling group, who according to their Coach Ryan Campbell, have had fantastic seasons, especially those who played in English domestic cricket across formats. Netherlands had seven players featuring during the English season and fast bowler Paul van Meekeren became the first Dutch player ever to be drafted in the Caribbean Premier League this year. 

“I look forward to seeing them make a real impact during this tournament,” Campbell said.

Not only does Netherlands have experience on their side in the presence of skipper Pieter Seelaar, Ben Cooper, Stephan Myburgh and Roelof van der Merwe, but the presence of 41-year-old Ryan ten Doeschate will surely make them no easy beats. Ten Doeschate, one of the finest cricketers ever produced by an Associate nation was Netherlands’ second-highest scorer as they defended their title in the T20 World Cup qualifiers in 2019.

“I am excited about the blend of experience and youth we’re taking to the UAE. It’ll be fantastic to have veteran Ryan ten Doeschate come with us for one last hoorah,” was how Campbell described his squad.

Sri Lanka and Netherlands have met once in a T20I during the 2014 T20 World Cup match in Bangladesh with Sri Lanka winning by nine wickets. Netherlands were dismissed for 39 – their lowest total in T20Is.