Last Updated on 2 years by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: Twitter reactions after Namibia THUMPS Sri Lanka in World Cup opener | Reactions to Namibia upset win over Sri Lanka
What a start to the 2022 T20 World Cup. The underdogs not only won, but they showed what they were capable of. Also, the team that won the toss lost the match, so that is a welcome relief, if you focus on the influence of tosses.
But forget the toss for a moment. Namibia were outstanding. Under pressure themselves with the bat, they rallied on the back of their excellent all-rounders to catch Sri Lanka off-guard. Indeed, from the moment Jan Frylinck and JJ Smit got into their work with the bat, Sri Lanka, the reigning Asia Cup champions, were never in the contest.
With the ball, the exciting Ben Shikongo put on a clinic in the powerplay to leave the Lions reeling. From there, the Namibians kept picking up regular wickets, as only two Sri Lankan batsmen crossed 20 in a very underwhelming performance.
All of a sudden, Namibia are well on their way to qualify for the Super 12s for a second straight year. They were well backed to reach that stage before the tournament began, but not many would have expected them to even beat Sri Lanka, let alone so convincingly. From a Sri Lankan perspective, they can ill-afford any further slip ups against UAE and Netherlands after this significant wake up call.
Twitter reactions after Namibia put on a clinic against Sri Lanka
“ICC did everything they could to bury the opening of the World Cup. Geelong. Qualifiers. Day game. And Namibia just lit it up with their greatest win ever. The little that can,” tweeted Jarrod Kimber. It was one of the many reactions that provided a reminder of how special the international game can still be.
“It’s been an incredible journey, last year was exciting for us and we’ve now topped that with a great win. Though there’s still a lot of work to do for the rest of the tournament. But yeah it’s been a historic day for us,” said Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus in the post-match presentation.
Namibia will be looking to build on their great win when they play Netherlands on Tuesday afternoon. Following that match, Sri Lanka will have to pick themselves up quickly against UAE under lights.