JJ Smit and Jan Frylinck’s brilliant 69-run partnership and a poor batting display by Sri Lanka saw the Asian Champions slump to a 55-run defeat in their T20 World Cup opener against Namibia.
The pair came together at the dismissal of David Wiese, who was the one player Sri Lanka would have really had their eye on ahead of the game. He didn’t make too much of an impact, but Frylinck and Smit proved more than capable, plundering 68 off the last 5 overs, which turned out to be the turning point of the game.
Sri Lanka managed to pick up 3 wickets in the power play, with all three quicks striking, before skipper Gerarhard Erasmus and Stephen Baard, put together an important 41-run stand. Three quick wickets between the 12th and 15th overs gave Sri Lanka some hope of pulling things back before Frylinck and Smit put paid to that.
With Dilshan Madushanka ruled out of the tournament on the eve of the game, Sri Lanka surprisingly opted for Pramod Madushan instead of Lahiru Kumara. Madushan ended with the best figures for Sri Lanka, picking up 2/37, his last over going for 18 and spoiling a decent spell.
Sri Lanka’s chase started off in the worst fashion, with David Wiese picking up the in-form Kusal Mendis in the 2nd over. Perhaps the turning point of the game came a couple of overs later though, as Ben Shikongo dismissed Pathum Nissanka and Danushka Gunathilake off consecutive deliveries to reduce Sri Lanka to 22/3 in 4 overs. The right-arm quick nearly had three in three when he struck Bhanuka Rajapaksa on the pads off the hattrick ball, but fortunately for the batter, the ball was pitching outside leg stump.
Rajapaksa rode his luck and was looking like the only one who could get Sri Lanka home when Dhananjaya de Silva fell to another soft dismissal, but his luck ran out eventually as he fell immediately after the drinks break.
Things looked bleak for Sri Lanka with the dismissal of Rajapaksa, but hope still remained with skipper Dasun Shanaka at the crease. However, he didn’t last long either, Sri Lanka slumping to 88/7 and eventually .. all out.
It was a disappointing performance from the Sri Lankan top order, who all fell playing loose shots. Namibia, to their credit, stuck to their game plans and caught brilliantly to snatch an unexpected win.
This is the first time Sri Lanka have been defeated by an Associate Nation since they lost to Kenya at 2003 ODI World Cup. The heavy loss also means that Sri Lanka’s Net Run Rate will take a hit, a scenario they could live to rue if 3 teams finish on equal points in this round.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael van Lingen | c pramod madushan b Dushmantha Chameera | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Divan la Cock | c Dasun Shanaka b pramod madushan | 9 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton | c Kusal Mendis b Chamika Karunaratne | 20 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 166.67 |
| Stephan Baard | c Dhananjaya de Silva b pramod madushan | 26 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 108.33 |
| Gerhard Erasmus | c Danushka Gunathilaka b Wanidu Hasaranga | 20 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 83.33 |
| Jan Frylinck | run out (Kusal Mendis) | 44 | 28 | 3 | 0 | 157.14 |
| David Wiese | c Kusal Mendis b Maheesh Theekshana | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| JJ Smit | not out | 31 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 193.75 |
| Extras | 10 (b 1 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 9, pen 0) |
| Total | 163/7 (20 Overs, RR: 8.15) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maheesh Theekshana | 4 | 0 | 23 | 1 | 5.75 | |
| Dushmantha Chameera | 4 | 0 | 39 | 1 | 9.75 | |
| pramod madushan | 4 | 0 | 37 | 2 | 9.25 | |
| Chamika Karunaratne | 4 | 0 | 36 | 1 | 9.00 | |
| Wanidu Hasaranga | 4 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 6.75 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c JJ Smit b Ben Shikongo | 9 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 90.00 |
| Kusal Mendis | c Zane Green b David Wiese | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 150.00 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | c Ben Shikongo b Jan Frylinck | 12 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 109.09 |
| Dhanushka Gunathilake | c Zane Green b Ben Shikongo | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Bhanuka Rajapaksa | c Divan la Cock b Bernard Scholtz | 20 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 95.24 |
| Dasun Shanaka | c Zane Green b Jan Frylinck | 29 | 23 | 2 | 1 | 126.09 |
| Wanidu Hasaranga | c Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton b Bernard Scholtz | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Chamika Karunaratne | c Stephan Baard b JJ Smit | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 62.50 |
| pramod madushan | run out (Zane Green) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Dushmantha Chameera | c Gerhard Erasmus b David Wiese | 8 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 53.33 |
| Maheesh Theekshana | not out | 11 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Extras | 4 (b 0 , lb 2 , nb 0, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 108/10 (19 Overs, RR: 5.68) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gerhard Erasmus | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8.00 | |
| David Wiese | 4 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 4.00 | |
| Bernard Scholtz | 4 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 4.50 | |
| Ben Shikongo | 3 | 1 | 22 | 2 | 7.33 | |
| JJ Smit | 3 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 5.33 | |
| Jan Frylinck | 4 | 0 | 26 | 2 | 6.50 | |
