T20 World Cup: Namibia make perfect start, hammer Sri Lanka

GEELONG (Australia), Oct 16

Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup campaign got off to a disastrous start here today as the former champions crashed to a 55-run defeat by Namibia.

Arriving as surprise Asia Cup champions, Sri Lanka had hoped to make an early statement against the African associate side in front of thousands of expectant supporters on a sun-bathed afternoon at Kardinia Park.

Instead, it was Namibia soaking up their finest international win a year after storming into the Super 12s at the last World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

Bowled out for 108 after chasing 164 for victory, 2014 champions Sri Lanka can afford no slip-ups in their qualifying matches against United Arab Emirates on Tuesday and Netherlands on Thursday.

All-rounder Jan Frylinck was the Player of the Match, top-scoring with 44 from 28 balls as Namibia put on a respectable total on a drop-in wicket. He then picked up the wickets of Dhananjaya de Silva (12) and captain Dasun Shanaka (29) with his left-arm pace. “I’m a little bit speechless at the moment, what we’ve just achieved is above what we thought we could do,” said Frylinck.

Sri Lanka crashed to 21/3 and their chase was all but over when Shanaka fell for 29, his team still 76 runs short with three wickets in hand.

With a heavy South African flavour in their coaching, Namibia have been the big improvers among the second-tier sides and will back themselves to make another trip to the Super 12s.

“Incredible journey. Last year was a special experience for us and we’ve topped that with a great win,” captain Gerhard Erasmus said. “A historic day for us but we want to kick on from here and make that Super 12.”

Netherlands pipped United Arab Emirates by three wickets in the other Group A match to boost their Super 12 hopes. Bas de Leede (3/19) led their disciplined attack as they restricted the UAE to 111/8. When they returned for the chase, the Dutch side spluttered before prevailing in a tight finish with one ball to spare.

Brief scores: Namibia: 163/7 (Frylinck 44, Smit 33*; Madushan 2/37) vs Sri Lanka: 108 (Shanaka 29; Wiese 2/16, Scholtz 2/18, Shikongo 2/22, Frylinck 2/26); UAE: 111/8 (Waseem 41; de Leede 3/19) vs Netherlands: 112/7 in 19.5 overs (O’Dowd 23; Siddique 3/24). — Reuters

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