Namibia upset Sri Lanka in Geelong fairytale
This is the third-biggest win by runs for an Associate team against a Full member team in T20Is.
They came, they handled the pressure, they finished strongly with the bat, bowled brilliantly and made a statement. This is what we are all here for in ICC tournaments. The stories of the underdogs pushing the regulars to the limit and even crossing the line. And Namibia have crushed Sri Lanka by 55 runs and kicked off the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 with an upset in Geelong on Sunday.
This is the third-biggest win by runs for an Associate team against a full-member team in T20Is. Namibia now have more wins against full-member teams (IRE 2021 & SL 2022) in T20 World Cups than Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. And the same number of wins as Afghanistan and Ireland.
After some late big hitting from Jan Frylinck and JJ Smit which helped Namibia post a competitive total, Ben Shikongo and Bernard Scholtz did the job with ball in the opening World Cup clash.
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They totally caught Sri Lanka unawares.
Sri Lanka kept losing wickets from the very beginning in their pursuit of 164 runs. Shikongo and Scholtz picked up a brace each to break the backbone of the Lankans' batting. Sri Lanka do bat pretty long, but batters threw it away and Ben Shikongo sent serious shivers when he almost picked a hat-trick in what was a double-wicket maiden over. Frylinck and Wiese showed how good their variations were.
The Lankans eventually managed to go beyond 100 which at one point seemed too far away.
Earlier, Frylinck (44) and Smit (31*) put together 70 runs for the seventh wicket in just more than five overs as Namibia overcame a shaky start to register 163/7 from their 20 overs at Kardinia Park.
For Sri Lanka, Pramod Liyanagamage bagged a brace while other bowlers picked up a wicket each.
Sri Lanka have 48 hours to lick their wounds and recover ahead of their second match at the tournament against the UAE in Geelong on Tuesday.
It will be a must-win encounter for the reigning Asia Cup champions, with a second consecutive loss to likely leave them down the barrel of a shock exit in the First Round.
Conversely, Namibia will get the chance to book a Super 12 berth when they take on the Netherlands on Tuesday afternoon, also in Geelong.
Frylinck was adjudged man of the match for his all-round performance with bat and ball.
