Namibia stun Asia Cup champions Lanka by 55 runs to open T20I World Cup campaign in style; all-rounder Frylinck (44 & 2-26) insists his team have achieved something above imagination
Namibia’s Jan Frylinck is ecstatic after claiming a Sri Lankan wicket yesterday. Pics/AFP, AP, PTI
All- rounder Jan Frylinck admitted to being a “little bit speechless” after Namibia scripted an upset for the ages, beating Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka by 55 runs to kickstart the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup on a spectacular note.
Frylinck (44) first joined hands with JJ Smit (31 not out) for a 70-run stand in 34 balls for the seventh wicket to help Namibia post a competitive 163-7 in 20 overs. The bowlers then took over to produce a superb collective show, mixing their fuller and short lengths well to bowl out Sri Lanka for 108 in 19 overs for a historic win over a major cricketing nation.
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Namibia players celebrate the wicket of SL’s Chamika Karunaratne
Frylinck backed up his superb batting performance in the last five overs with a brilliant 2-26 in his four overs to be adjudged Player of the Match in Namibia’s famous victory and ease their path towards a Super 12 qualification while causing a huge dent in Sri Lanka’s net run-rate.
“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. JJ just came in and took the pressure off me by hitting a couple of boundaries, and then myself and JJ just got us to a competitive total and the bowlers were just great after that,” said Frylinck in the post-match presentation ceremony.
The margin of 55 runs in Namibia’s victory over Sri Lanka, the 2014 T20 World Cup champions and current Asia Cup winners, at Kardinia Park, Geelong, is also the biggest victory ever recorded by a current Associate team against a full-member side in men’s T20Is.
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Brief scores
Namibia 163-7 in 20 overs (Jan Frylinck 44, JJ Smit 31*; P Liyanagamage 2-37) beat SL 108 in 19 overs (D Shanaka 29, D Wiese 2-16, B Scholtz 2-18, B Shikongo 2-22) by 55 runs
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