Namibia vs Sri Lanka: The opening match of the World T20 2022 saw Namibia register a thumping win over Sri Lanka by 55 runs. The Gerhard Erasmus-led side won the match, banking on some high-class batting performances followed by a strong display with the ball. With this convincing victory, Namibia has taken a strong step ahead, thereby strengthening their chances of finishing within the top 2 positions of their group.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will be concerned after succumbing to a shocking defeat in the opening match and will have to turn things around with quality performances in the remaining games so as to qualify for the Super 12s.
The Sri Lankan skipper, Dasun Shanaka, won the toss and opted to field first. The Sri Lankan bowlers didn’t prove their captain’s decision wrong as they removed both the openers inside the first three overs. A dangerous looking Loftie-Eaton was also dismissed inside the powerplay for 20 with Nambia struggling at 35/3. Stephen Baard thereon combined with skipper, Gerrard Erasmus, for a run a ball, 41-run partnership.
Just when the duo looked to change their gears, Wanindu Hasaranga dismissed Erasmus for 20. The Board too was sent back to the pavilion by Pramod Madushan a couple of overs later, with Namibia having half their side back into the hut for 91.
Namibia were 6 down for 93 at the end of 15 overs. It was at this moment when the batting pair of JJ Smit and Jan Frylink took matters into their own hands. The duo displayed some extraordinary big hitting to shift the momentum towards Namibia. Thanks to some unthinkable finishing touches from these batters, Namibia managed to score 68 runs in the last 5 overs and reached a total of 163/6 at the end of 20 overs.
Sri Lanka didn’t have a convincing start to their run chase since they lost early wickets to everyone’s surprise. In the form of an opening duo, Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis were sent back early. Danushkha Gunathilaka’s being dismissed for a golden duck put Sri Lanka under serious pressure since they were three down inside the powerplay. Things got worse for Sri Lanka as Dhananjay De Silva was sent back for 12 with the team’s total having just reached 40.
Bhanuka Rajapaksha tried to rebuild the innings with skipper Dasun Shanaka as they both added 34 runs for the 5th wicket. Once this partnership was broken at the score of 74, things only worsened for Sri Lanka as they kept on losing wickets, thereby losing their grip over the game. The other lower order batsman could not display any sort of resistance as the entire Sri Lankan innings was bundled out for 108.
Namibia now has the first points in this T20 World Cup and, thus, a healthy win by 55 runs means that they have a positive net run rate. Jan Frylink was awarded the man of the match for his 44-run innings with the bat, besides bowling a fine spell of 2/26 in 4 overs.