Minnows Namibia stunned Sri Lanka with a win. Sri Lanka was all out at 108. Jan Frylinck 44 and, JJ Smit 33 helped Namibia reach a respectable score of 163. While their seamers Ben Shikongo and David Wiese blasted their way through Sri Lanka's batting order.
Sri Lanka's Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Dasun Shanaka mustered a meagre 34 runs. Namibia's stunning ambush of Sri Lanka in their T20 World Cup opener on Sunday was born from the experience of playing the big dogs of cricket in the United Arab Emirates last year, according to captain Gerhard Erasmus, Reuters reported.
“If you look at last year's game, the tables have been turned,” Erasmus told Reuters. “With a quick turnaround between matches, the team will have to keep a lid on the celebrations.” “It's going to take a massive mental re-set from our point because you can get carried away with celebrations and historical events like this happening,” he added.
In the first of their innings, Namibia was faring badly-- they were at 93 for 6. The projected score was 140. it was at the 16th over that Frylinck and Smit turned the match around for the underdogs.