Maheesh Theekshana started the game, it was his quicks that gave him the upper hand early on in the World Cup opener. Dushmantha Chameera returned to the starting lineup after missing Sri Lanka’s successful Asia Cup campaign due to a calf injury, and she struck the second ball to remove Namibia opener Michael van Lingen.
Promod Madushan, standing in for the injured Dilshan Madhushanka, had the other opener, Divan la Cock, in the third over. Namibia was in big trouble by the fifth over when Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton was removed after a quick start by Chamika Karunaratne. Gerhard Erasmus and Stephan Baard managed only 41 runs in their collective seven overs despite having prevented the wickets from falling.
After Erasmus was duped by Hasaranga, Namibia’s plight deteriorated as Baard and Wiese, who fell in the space of three deliveries, raised the score to 93 for 6 in the fifteenth over. Namibia reached 95 for 6 in 15 overs thanks to the 68 runs scored by Frylinck and Smit off the final five overs.
Frylinck scored 44 off 28 deliveries and smit scoring 31 off 16 balls and finished with 163 for 7 in their 20 overs. Namibia carried the momentum into their bowling phase as they made things difficult for Sri Lanka’s top-order. David Wiese was able to get Kusal Mendis to top edge a ball that was safely caught by wicketkeeper Zane Green in just the second over, showcasing the depth of his T20 knowledge.
The 22 years old medium bowler Ben Shikongo, who also removed Pathum Nissanka and Danushka Gunathilaka, quieted the Sri Lankan supporters in the crowd by taking two wickets in a row in a double-wicket maiden.
Sri Lanka had no hope of bouncing back after Rajapaksa’s departure as they went from 74 for 5 in the 11th over to 92 for 9 in the 16th over, with Namibia playing outstandingly to hold on to all of their high catches. Maheesh Theekshana helped his team surpass the 100-run mark, but Wiese took the final wicket to end Sri Lankan innings 108 all out and winning by 55 runs.
Brief Scorecard : Namibia 163/7 (Jan Frylinck 44, JJ Smit 31, Pramod Madushan 2-37) beat Sri Lanka 108 in 19 overs (Dasun Shanaka 29, Bhanuka Rajapaksa 20, David Wiese 2-16, Bernard Scholtz 2-18, Ben Shikongo 2-22, Jan Frylinck 2-26) by 55 runs.
image credit : sportsin
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