The 2022 T20 World Cup got underway with Sri Lanka vs Namibia on Sunday, October 16 at the Simonds Stadium in Geelong in the Qualifiers round. The match witnessed an outstanding effort by Sri Lankan wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis. His catch to dismiss Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton left the experts as well as the fans impressed.
Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka won the toss and elected to bowl first. His bowlers proved the decision to be correct, as they made early in-roads in the Namibia batting attack. Both the openers, Michael van Lingen and Divan la Cock were back in the hut by the third over with 16 runs on the board.
In the fifth over, Loftie-Eaton, slammed Chamika Karunaratne for a six and a four to ease the pressure. However, the Sri Lankan bowler had the last laugh, as Loftie-Eaton was dismissed in the same over. Karunaratne bowled an off-cutter, which Loftie-Eaton tried to play away from his body, and got an outside edge. Wicket-keeper Kusal Mendis dived full-length, to complete the catch.
Watch the video here:
What a catch!! pic.twitter.com/XpcxMu5MvZ
— Adam NBA (@AdamNBA5) October 16, 2022
Jan Frylinck, JJ Smit power Namibia to 163 runs against Sri Lanka in T20 World Cup 2022
Namibia managed 163 runs on the board in 20 overs, on the back of a brilliant partnership between Jan Frylinck and JJ Smit. They put on 70 runs on the board together for the seventh wicket stand. Jan Frylinck was run out on the final delivery for 44 runs off 28 deliveries, while JJ Smit remained unbeaten on 31 runs off 16 balls.
Meanwhile, Pramod Madushan took two wickets in the innings for Sri Lanka. In four overs, he conceded 37 runs at an economy rate of 9.2. All the other bowlers used, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushamantha Chameera, Chamika Karunaratne, and Wanindu Hasaranga picked one wicket each. Sri Lanka needs 164 runs to get off the mark in the T20 World Cup 2022 qualifiers round.
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