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T20 World Cup: Scotland beat Namibia and set ‘sights on Super 8s’ – BBC Sport
Victory in Barbados put the Scots top of Group B, albeit Australia and England have played one game less, and has increased belief that they can spring a surprise by being one of the two sides to qualify for the next stage.
“We need two more results and two results is not a big ask – and we’ve got the team to do it,” Leask, who hit four sixes as he contributed 35 runs, told the BBC.
Scotland were denied the opportunity to build on a promising opening partnership when rain forced their opening game against England to be abandoned.
However, Leask thought that performance, and United States’ super-over win over Pakistan, showed that associate nations “don’t get the recognition they deserve”.
“We are a force to be reckoned with,” he said. “After game one, we proved to a lot of people that we’re not just here as an associate. I think we showed we have a lot of good depth.”
Leask said “it felt special being out there” and had “said to the coach I’d repay the faith he’s shown in me” as Scotland avenged previous defeats by Namibia.
“We have come out the wrong end of it a couple of times, so that’s what makes this one so sweet,” he said.
“Three from three the last time we played in the first over, got close but not close enough. We’ve had a lot of that in the past and this feels like a team who is on the rise.”
Leask pointed out there was “a bit of emotion” as the Scots shared the joy of victory with their families because of “the sacrifices a lot of them have made to be out here”.
However, he stressed they now have to quickly turn their attention to facing fellow associate nation Oman on Sunday.
“We can’t take Oman lightly,” Leask added. “They are another decent associate outfit.”
