| ICC Men's T20 World Cup, GMHBA Stadium, Geelong |
| Namibia 163-7 (20 overs): Frylinck 44 (28), Smit 31* (16); Madushan 2-37 |
| Sri Lanka 108 (19 overs): Shanaka 29 (23); Scholtz 2-18, Shikongo 2-22, Frylinck 2-26 |
| Namibia won by 55 runs |
| Scorecard; Table |
The Men's T20 World Cup started with a bang, as 14th-ranked Namibia shocked Asia Cup winners Sri Lanka.
After losing the toss, Namibia fell to 35-3 and 93-6 before Jan Frylinck andJJ Smit hit 70 off the final 37 balls to propel them to an above par 163-7.
Sri Lanka, who are eighth in the world, were defeated by a score of108.
Ireland was the only Test nation that Namibia had ever defeated.
The Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates are playing in a group.
Scotland and Ireland will face West Indies and Zimbabwe on Sunday in their first games of the campaign.
The top two sides from each group will play in the Super 12s. The winner of Group A will face England.
Sri Lanka, who are led by former England head coach Chris Silverwood, came into the tournament in Australia as some people's outside bet for the title because of their win in the Asia Cup.
Cracks started to appear after a good start with the ball, as the conditions are very different to those faced in the U.A.
Frylinck and Smit were put under pressure by their team-mates, who needed to hit straighter, because their bowling was ragged.
They hit six fours and two sixes between them, but before that it had been a lackluster batting display from Namibia, with little power or guile.
The associate nation were excellent with the ball from the start and their fielding was flawless.
Michael van Lingen ran out Pramod Madushan after Nicol Loftie-Eaton caught Wanindu Hasaranga.
The left-arm spinner claimed 2-18, the pace bowler took 2-22 and the left-armer Frylinck took two-26.
The man of the match Frylinck said he was "speechless" at the result, while Smit said it would mean a lot to the little boys and girls at home.
The execution was not there when it came to the bowling, according to the captain. The game was lost when we lost three runs in the power play.
Because of the effect this result will have on their net run-rate, Sri Lanka will need to win both of their remaining games in order to qualify for the Super 12s.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
