Sri Lanka will take on Namibia in Group A’s first round at Abu Dhabi on October 18 in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Besides Sri Lanka and Namibia, Group A consists of Ireland and Netherlands.

Sri Lanka will be wary of Namibia’s recent T20 record of 18 wins in 22 matches. Craig Williams and captain Gerhard Erasmus are the mainstays of Namibia’s batting order that has also been bolstered by all-rounder Johannes Smit excellent performances this year.

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Off-spinner Bernard Scholtz could also pose a threat to Sri Lankan batting on Abu Dhabi’s spin-friendly pitch. Scholtz was the leading wicket-taker in the T20 qualifier, with 15 wickets at an economy rate of 5.34. All-rounder David Wiese makes a comeback to the team after playing for South Africa in the 2016 T20 World Cup.

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Craig Williams has scored half-centuries in his last four T20I appearances with scores of 57, 50, 57, and 81. He has scored 259 runs at a strike rate of 142 this year.

Sri Lanka have lost nine of the 12 T20Is they have played this year. They will be relying heavily on Avishka Fernando, who has been their best batsman over the four games they have played recently. Avishka hit 83 not out off 59 balls to rescue Sri Lanka from 51 for 4 in the first game against Oman, before hitting 62 not out off 42 in the warm-up against Bangladesh, and 61 off 37 in the second warm-up against Papua New Guinea. Avishka was apparently promoted to the No.4 slot on Sri Lanka’s temporary consultant Mahela Jayawardene insistence.

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Namibia have never played a South Asian side in a T20I. Their only losses have come in 2019 against against Netherlands, Papua New Guinea and Ireland.

Avishka has not scored a half-century in his 21 recognised T20I innings. He has batted at No. 4 only once so far, though.