KEEP THE FAITH
Cross backs Saltires to put opening loss to bed with win over Namibia
MATTHEW CROSS insists there has been no dent sustained to Scottish confidence as they look to bounce back from the painful loss to Afghanistan by defeating Namibia this afternoon.
The 130-run defeat in Sharjah on Monday was a sore one for Shane Burger and his players who had entered the Super 12 phase of the Twenty20 World Cup in optimistic mood after winning all three of their first-round games against Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea and Oman.
The nature of tournament cricket, however, means that there has been little time to stew over that hammering, with focus instead turning to how Scotland can get back on track in their second game.
The message from Burger — Cross revealed — has been that one poor result shouldn’t define them as a team, as long as they can bounce back in convincing fashion in Abu Dhabi today.
It’s a key contest for Scotland given India, Pakistan and New Zealand all lie in wait later in the group and realistically this match represents the best chance for them to record a victory at this stage of the tournament.
Pakistan maintained their 100-per-cent record in Group Two with a five-wicket victory over the Kiwis yesterday.
Wicketkeeper Cross said: ‘It’s up to us to show the world-class ability that we’ve got. I don’t think the Afghanistan game dents our confidence in the slightest — these performances can happen and at the same time, we’ve got to move on.
‘We’ve got four big games to hopefully put another full member win on the board and also try for a win against Namibia.
‘We had a very brief chat afterwards about the Afghanistan game. It was obviously very disappointing but at the same time, T20 comes thick and fast.
‘So there wasn’t too much dwelling and chat on the game specifically. It was that we’ve got to back ourselves on what we’ve done so far.
‘We’re playing a team in Namibia who we know a bit more about and we expect to bring a better performance. With T20 performances there’s always potential for that kind of result — Afghanistan played a great game of cricket, probably the best I’ve played in.’
Scotland took on Namibia twice in the build-up to this tournament, with the sides winning one game apiece. And with the Africans knocking both the Netherlands and Ireland out in the first round, Cross knows they must be treated with respect.
‘They’re a very good team and I said before the competition started that I expected them to go through from that group so I’m pleased that they did,’ added the Aberdonian. ‘They’ve got everything covered; they’ve got experience, a really good fielding unit and very tidy bowling.
‘We’ve played against them three or four times in the last three years so there’s no surprises. At the same time, we expect to go out there and win.
‘We’ve been out here for a long time now so there are no challenges we’re not ready for. We’re moving to a different ground so we’ve got to adapt quickly, but that’s the same for every team. Hopefully we’ll adapt quicker than Namibia.’