Sri Lanka, the 2022 Asia Cup winner got off to a disastrous start in the 2022 T20 World Cup on Sunday as Namibia registered a solid 55-run victory in Geelong.
Sri Lanka were bowled out for 108 runs while chasing 164 runs for victory. The 2014 champions crashed to 21/3 at the end of powerplay and could never recover. Captain Dasun Shanaka hit 29 runs from 23 balls and Bhanuka Rajapaksa consolidated with run-a-ball 20 runs but never got close to the target and eventually collapsed at 19 overs. David Wiese, Bernard Scholz, Band Shikongo, Jan Frylinck picked up two wickets each.
Earlier, Namibia’s All-rounder Jan Frylinck, top-scored with 44 from 28 balls and helped Namibia to put on a respectable total on a drop-in wicket. At 15th over, Namibia were rocked back to 93/6, however, Frylinck and JJ Smit 31(16) steadied the innings with a 69-run partnership in just 33 balls to produce a competitive total of 163/7.
“A historic day for us but we want to kick on from here and make that Super 12,” Namibia’s captain Gerhard Erasmus said in the post-match presentation.
