T20 World Cup: Namibia shock Sri Lanka in opening game

Namibia all-rounder JJ Smit smashed an unbeaten 31 off 16 balls as he helped his side accelerate at the back end of the innings

Namibia, ranked 14th in the world, shocked Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka to win by 55 runs as the Men's T20 World Cup started in spectacular fashion.

In reply, Sri Lanka, who are eighth in the world, were bowled out for 108.

Namibia's only other win over a Test nation was against Ireland in 2021.

The Netherlands play the United Arab Emirates in Group A from 09:00 BST.

Scotland and Ireland's campaigns start on Sunday, when they face West Indies and Zimbabwe respectively in Group B.

The top two sides from each group qualify for the Super 12s, which start on 22 October. The winner of Group A and runner-up from Group B will face England.

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Sri Lanka flatter to deceive but Namibia impress

Sri Lanka, who are led by former England head coach Chris Silverwood, came into the tournament in Australia as some people's outside bet for the title because of their impressive Asia Cup victory just five weeks ago.

However, the conditions are very different to those faced in the United Arab Emirates, and after a good start with the ball, cracks started to appear.

Their fielding was tidy enough, but their bowling, both line and length, became ragged as the Namibia innings progressed and they were put under pressure by Frylinck and Smit, who both understood the need to hit straighter much better than their team-mates.

They hit six fours and two sixes between them, but before that it had been a tepid batting display from Namibia, with little power or guile to find the boundary.

The associate nation were superb with the ball from the get-go though, and their catching and ground fielding was faultless throughout.

Nicol Loftie-Eaton took a brilliant catch at deep mid-wicket to dismiss Wanindu Hasaranga, before Michael van Lingen was quick off the mark to run out Pramod Madushan.

Left-arm spinner Bernard Scholtz claimed 2-18, pace bowler Ben Shikongo - who had an lbw review for a hat-trick turned down - took 2-22 and Frylinck 2-26.

Man of the match Frylinck said he was "speechless" at the result and they had "achieved above what we thought we could", while Smit said "for the little boys and girls at home, this will mean the world".

Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka said: "The execution was not there when it came to the bowling - that has been a concern for us. Once we lost three wickets in the powerplay, the game was lost."

The result means Sri Lanka will realistically need to win both of their remaining games - potentially by large margins because of the effect this result will have on their net run-rate - to stand a chance of qualifying for the Super 12s.

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