Namibia's Jan Frylinck hits third-fastest T20I fifty in win over Zimbabwe

New Delhi [India], September 19 (ANI): Namibian all-rounder Jan Frylinck has joined an exclusive club and sent a warning to rivals ahead of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier, smashing the equal-third-fastest half-century in men's T20I history during Namibia's 28-run win over Zimbabwe, as per the official website of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Given an opening role in the series by skipper Gerhard Erasmus, Frylinck repaid the faith in the final outing of the three-match series in Bulawayo, raising his bat just 13 balls into his innings, before finishing with 77 from 31 balls.

The injection of power at the top of the order set the platform for the tourists, who went on to post 204/7 in the 28-run win.

Frylinck made 15 runs in the first over of the innings, hitting Wellington Masakadza for three consecutive boundaries, before hitting towering quick Blessing Muzarabani for 14 runs in three deliveries to be 29 not out from his first eight balls.

Trevor Gwandu then felt Frylinck's wrath, who hit two fours and two sixes off the first four balls of the fourth over of the innings, taking him to the half-century mark, before hitting the fifth ball for another six.

More renowned for his pace bowling in previous times, Frylinck has gone through a conversion of sorts to be a top-order batter in both white-ball formats, with his latest effort easily bettering his previous highest T20I score of 57 not out against Kenya in 2023.

Frylinck joins Zimbabwe's Tadiwanashe Marumani, Turkey's Muhammad Fahad and Austria's Mirza Ahsan in the 13-ball half-century club, with the performance only bettered by Yuvraj Singh's 12-ball fifty against England in 2007 and Dipendra Singh Airee's nine-ball fifty against Mongolia in the 2023 Asian Games.

Despite the defeat, Zimbabwe claimed the series 2-1, with the matches the ideal hitout for both sides ahead of the final round of the Africa T20 World Cup 2026 qualifying.

The pair feature in different groups in the eight-team tournament and are highly favoured to claim the two spots in the region, though face competition from the likes of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. (ANI)

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