The T20 World Cup 2022 started with a mighty upset; least to say, Sri Lankan legend Lasith Malinga was one of the most surprised people as Sri Lanka went down by a big margin of 55 runs to underdogs Namibia in the first match of the preliminary qualifying round.
Gerhard Erasmus’ inspirational group thumped down the Asia Cup 2022 champions at the Simonds Stadium, Geelong, to kick off their campaign with a stunning demolishing of Dasun Shanaka’s side. With the size of this victory, Namibia will need one victory in their next two qualifying matches to qualify for the Super 12 round, while it has become a daunting task for Sri Lanka to reach the next stage of the tournament.
Namibia were impressive in last year’s T20 World Cup where they qualified for the Super 12 round. Despite this, not many would have given them a chance to upset the reigning Asia Cup champions.
Former Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga was even confident that Sri Lanka, should they show the same spirit as they did during the miraculous Asia Cup triumphant campaign, would even go deep in the tournament.
“SL starts their WC campaign in few minutes. One of the most balanced WC squads from SL in the recent past. They will go a long way in the tournament if they show the same team spirit and hunger that they have shown in the Asia Cup. @dasunshanaka1 and co. let’s do this boys,” Malinga had tweeted before the start of the match.
This tweet, however, has backfired the great fast bowler, who is now getting trolled and mocked under the comments section by fans following Sri Lanka’s dismal performance, in particular with the bat.
Here are some of the comments under Malinga’s tweet:
SL🇱🇰 starts their WC campaign in few minutes. One of the most balanced WC squads from SL in the recent past. They will go a long way in the tournament if they show the same team spirit and hunger that they have shown in the Asia Cup.@dasunshanaka1 and co. let’s do this boys❤️💪
— Lasith Malinga (@malinga_ninety9) October 16, 2022
🤐
— Rajitha Abeysinghe🇱🇰 (@RajithaSL) October 16, 2022
null
L
— VARI∆NT (@khtr_nak) October 16, 2022
congratulations 😀
— DrSalar marwat (@salaar515) October 16, 2022
Finally we are losse
— lakmaludaya (@lakmaludaya) October 16, 2022
Aree sirf yeh nhi bolna tha,🤣🤣🤣
— Aman Kashyap (@AmanKas65092215) October 16, 2022
Boys have strated strongly
— VK —18❤️ (@ShakirHuda5) October 16, 2022
Nd what a disastrous start by Sri Lanka 😂😂😂108 all out
— Faizan kumar (@Faizankumar3) October 16, 2022
one of the most balanced 😂😂😂
— X-MAN (@maannnuuuuD) October 16, 2022
Good batting balance team Sri Lanka Malinga please no fun🤣😂😅
— Mass Hari (@MassHar07052278) October 16, 2022
Most balanced? 😂😂😂they lost to namibia
— Manoj 🇮🇳 (@manoj50924444) October 16, 2022
— 🚩RJ07🚩 (@Yashhwardhan) October 16, 2022
null
“balanced WC Squad” 🤣🤣🤣
watching this tweet after embarrassing defeat of Sri Lanka 😁
— Bruiser (@_snide) October 16, 2022
Perfectly balanced the fall of wickets pic.twitter.com/X85JgsnsWf
— Jackedninja (@VNoudiyal) October 16, 2022
— Sidhvin (@RCBfan01) October 16, 2022
Very well balanced. Even Namibia is enough to imbalance them 😂 #SLvNAM
— Baba (@BalluBalram0) October 16, 2022
😭😭 I say this to everyone. Don’t be overconfident PLEASE….. https://t.co/ZfAIv7nZei
— Nice (@masteroogabooga) October 16, 2022
tweets before disaster’s struck: https://t.co/olT0YxnkhQ
— Ayesha Z (@aaayeshaa_) October 16, 2022
Jan Frylinck was named the Player of the Match for his terrific all-round performance: 44 off 28 with the bat and 2/26 with the ball.
