Lanka recover from early shocks to beat Namibia

Sri Lanka recovered from a shaky beginning to register their second win from Group 'D' in the under 19 World Cup, beating Namibia by seven wickets at the Saravanamuttu Stadium on Thursday.

Chasing Namibia's paltry total of 94, Sri Lanka lost their first three wickets for 15 runs in four overs before the in-form Ian Daniels and skipper Malintha Gajanayake steered them to victory by sharing an unfinished fourth wicket stand of 81.

Daniels who hit a superb 73 not out in the first game against Ireland made an undefeated 25 and Gajanayake, batting fluently, scored 43 not out. Namibian opening bowlers Stefan Ludick and Burton van Rooi extracted some life out of the pitch to remove Jehan Mubarak (0) and Kaushal Lokuarachchi (1) with only four on the board. Both fell lbw victims. Left-hander Thilina Kandambi made 10 before van Rooi produced a superb delivery that saw the batsman play on.

Further success was denied to Namibia by the fourth wicket pair. Namibia, choosing to bat first on winning the toss, lost their first six wickets for 39 runs before contributions from the tail saw them reach their final total of 94.

Right-arm leg-spinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi produced a fine spell to finish with 3 for 24 off 10 overs as the Namibian batsmen found run making extremely difficult against accurate bowling and sharp fielding by the Sri Lankans.

The match was reduced to 46 overs a side following a late start at 11 a.m. due to wet ground conditions. Sri Lanka have assured themselves of a place in the Super Eights of the competition with this victory. On Tuesday they beat Ireland by eight wickets.