WATCH: Dasun Shanaka takes a stunning one-handed catch to send Namibia batter back to the Pavilion
Dasun Shanaka did not bowl in Sri Lanka’s opening game of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup against Namibia but provided a spectacular moment on the field. The skipper did a fine job with his bowling changes and tactics to reduce Namibia to a total of under 100 batting first, but the moment that encapsulated a lot of attention was his stunning catch to dismiss Ruben Trumpelmann.
Right towards the end of Namibia’s innings, Trumpelmann tried to hook a short delivery from Dushmanta Chameera, but was beaten for pace. It hit the sticker on the bat and looped straight up in the air. It went just wide on the left side of the bowler, where Dasun Shanaka was at short-covers. He had to make some ground before diving and taking a one-handed stunner.
It seemed like the bowler and skipper might collide for a second, but a loud call from the latter denied that possibility. Shanaka had to dive on the practice wickets, but fortunately, he did not hurt himself in the process. That effort from their skipper was important to cheer the side up, who haven’t played the best of cricket in recent months.
Here’s the video of that catch from Dasun Shanaka, that brought a smile among his teammates.
— Ves (@Ves84442098) October 18, 2021
Namibia struggled to stay on par with Sri Lanka right from the outset. The Lankan bowlers managed to restrict free run flow despite the likes of Craig Williams, Gerhard Erasmus, David Wiese and JJ Smit taking their chances. They could only manage 96 runs before getting bowled out, and young off-breaker Maheesh Theekshana picked up 3 wickets for Sri Lanka. Lahiru Kumara and Wanidu Hasaranga picked up 2 wickets each.
Uganda had a good start with the ball, igniting some hopes of doing the unthinkable. It seemed like they had an opening with three early wickets in the powerplay, but Avishka Fernando and Bhanuka Rajapaksa worked their way towards the target brilliantly.