Namibia shock 2014 T20 World Cup champions Sri Lanka in the opening game of 2022 edition; Sri Lanka rolled for 108 chasing 164 to win; Jan Frylinck, who starred with bat and ball for Namibia says, "what we've just achieved is above what we thought we could do"; Netherlands edge past UAE
Sunday 16 October 2022 13:09, UK
Sri Lanka slumped to a shock 55-run defeat to Namibia in the opening game of the T20 World Cup with the 2014 champions crumbling in a chase of 164 in Geelong.
Sri Lanka, viewed as the strong favourites to win Group A and advance to England's Super 12 pool after triumphing at the recent Asia Cup, were rolled for 108 in exactly 19 overs as Namibia pulled off a famous victory.
Namibia's only other win over a Test nation was against Ireland during last year's T20 World Cup in the UAE.
Namibia bowlers David Wiese, Bernard Scholtz, Ben Shikongo and Jan Frylinck each picked up two wickets during Sri Lanka's bungled reply - Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka top-scoring with a paltry 29 after seeing his men sink to 21-3 in the powerplay.
Frylinck (44 off 28 balls) and JJ Smit (31 off 16) had earlier played crucial roles with the bat for Namibia, plundering 68 from the final five overs as they rallied their side from 93-6 to 163-7 at Kardinia Park.
Namibia are now dreaming of a second successive Super 12 appearance having qualified for that stage last year in their maiden T20 World Cup but Sri Lanka can afford no further errors as they take on UAE on Tuesday and then Netherlands two days later.
Player of the Match Frylinck said: "I'm a little bit speechless at the moment. What we've just achieved is above what we thought we could do and I'm very just excited at this point in time."
Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus added: "It's been an incredible journey. Last year was exciting for us and we've now topped that with a great win.
"There is still a lot of work to do for the rest of the tournament but it's been a historic day for us."
Sri Lanka were dealt a blow on the eve of the competition with left-arm paceman Dilshan Madushanka ruled out after suffering a quad injury - Binura Fernando has taken Madushanka's place in the squad.
On the defeat to Namibia, Sri Lanka captain Shanaka said: "The execution was not there when it came to the bowling - that has been a concern for us. Once we lost three wickets in the powerplay, the game was lost."
In the day's second game, Netherlands pipped UAE by three wickets with one ball remaining to join Namibia on two points in Group A.
Netherlands slipped to 76-6 in a chase of 112 after losing three wickets for five runs - two of them picked up UAE seamer Junaid Siddique (3-24) - but captain Scott Edwards (16no), Tim Pringle (15) and Logan van Beek (4no) edged their side to victory.
Dutch pacemen Bas de Leede (2-19) and Fred Klaassen (2-13) had earlier helped Edwards' team limit UAE to 111-8, Muhammad Waseem the pick of the batters with 41 from 47 balls.
Waseem's team-mate Aayan Khan, meanwhile, fell over the boundary rope as he trudged off after being dismissed by Klaassen late in the innings.
Scotland and Ireland start their T20 World Cup campaigns on Monday as Group B begins. Scotland face West Indies from 5am, with Ireland playing Zimbabwe from 9am. Catch both matches live on Sky Sports Mix.
