Eagles head coach Pierre de Bruyn says it is unfortunate that Namibia could not make it to the Super 12 Stage of the ongoing Men’s Twenty-20 (T20) Cricket World Cup 2022 in Australia, despite playing the best game in the last four years.

Speaking from Australia soon after the Eagles were knocked out of the tournament by the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, De Bruyn said he was proud of his players as they had shown character throughout the tournament.

“It is very disappointing to say the least. There is a lot of emotion in the dressing room. Everyone in the group is disappointed. We played two tight games that drained us emotionally,” he said.

He noted that elite sport is brutal and it hurts the whole team that they could not make it to the Super 12 as they had experienced it in 2021.

“There is a team that won and there is a team that lost, it hurts so much that it is us who are out. The first game against Sri Lanka was our reward for all the hard work we did the past few years. We need to reflect, and take lessons from this experience. This will help us grow,” the coach said.

De Bruyn noted that the two games against the Netherlands and UAE proved that Namibia is a top quality side who are capable of competing at the highest level, as the players took both matches to the very last ball.

Namibia opened the 2022 T20 World Cup finals with a 55 run victory against highly rated Sri Lanka, leaving them needing a victory against either the Netherlands or UAE to qualify for the Super 12 Stage.

They however lost to the Netherlands by five wickets, before falling short by seven runs to the UAE – leaving Sri Lanka and the Netherlands as the two teams to qualify for the next round.

The Eagles are expected back in the country early next week.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency