T20 World Cup 2022

'Cricket is beautiful and unpredictable' - Twitter hails Namibia as they beat Sri Lanka in the opening match of 20-20 World Cup

Namibia beat Sri Lanka in the first match of the 20-20 World Cup by 55 runs at Simonds Stadium, Geelong on Sunday.

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Akshay
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20-20 World Cup

20-20 World Cup (Source: Twitter)

20-20 World Cup 20-20 World Cup (Source: Twitter)

After a long wait, the 20-20 World Cup finally got underway on Sunday as Sri Lanka and Namibia faced off against each other at Simons Stadium, Geelong. Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka won the toss and invited Namibia to bat first. The decision to bowl first was further vindicated by the Sri Lankan bowlers who struck early removing openers Michael van Lingen and Divan la Cock at the score of 16.

After losing the openers, wicketkeeper Loftie-Eaton came in and played some immaculate shots scoring one four and two sixes. However, his innings didn’t last long as he was dismissed for 20 off 12 balls giving Sri Lanka their third wicket.

Seeing their team in trouble, Stephan Baard and captain Gerard Erasmus got involved in a 41-run-stand for the fourth wicket. After the partnership ended, Namibia suffered another collapse as they got reduced to 93/6 after 14.2 overs. Jan Frylinck and JJ Smit took their team out of misery with a magnificent partnership of 70 off just 34 balls. Frylinck scored a scintillating 44 off 28 balls while Smit remained unbeaten on 31 off 16 balls.

Sri Lanka skittle for 108 in 19 overs

Courtesy of their partnership Namibia managed to reach a good total of 163/7 after 20 overs. Pramod Madushan was the pick of the bowlers from Sri Lanka who scalped two wickets for 37 runs in his four overs.

The Sri Lankan chase got off to a miserable start as they lost openers Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis with just 21 runs on the board. They further lost  Danushka Gunathilaka on a golden duck at the same score. Sri Lanka were left reeling at 40/4 after losing the wicket of Dhananjaya de Silva.

Bhanuka Rajapaksa and captain Dasun Shanaka stitched a 34-run stand to stabilise the innings. The end of this partnership drew curtains on Sri Lanka’s hopes as they went from 74/4 to 108 all out. Namibia registered a comprehensive win by 55 runs. David Wiese, Bernard Scholtz, Ben Shikongo and Jan Frylinck all took two wickets each as Namibia got their World Cup campaign off to a winning start.

Here's how Twitter reacted to Namibia's emphatic victory:

Sri Lanka 20-20 World Cup 2022