ICC T20 World Cup 2022: "What We've Just Achieved Is Above What We Thought We Could Do"- Jan Frylinck After Namibia Upsets Sri Lanka In T20 World Cup 2022

Namibia’s stunning victory against Sri Lanka in the 2022 T20 World Cup opener served as a stark reminder that no team can be viewed as the favourite in a major competition. 

Namibia upset Sri Lanka, the defending Asian champions, by 55 runs in the opening round of Group A of the ICC competition. Jan Frylinck of Namibia, an all-around player, claimed that what his squad accomplished was comparable to what they believed they were capable of. 

I’m A Little Speechless At The Moment: Jan Frylinck

Following the game, Jan Frylinck stated in a conversation with the announcer: “I’m a little bit speechless at the moment. What we’ve just achieved is above what we thought we could do and I’m very just excited at this point in time,”.

In just 15 overs, Sri Lanka managed to contain Namibia and restrict them to 93/6. With their late hitting, Jan Frylinck and JJ Smit fought valiantly and helped Namibia to a respectable score of 163/7. Quickfire knocks of 44 off 28 and 31 not out off 16 were played by Frylinck and Smit, respectively. 

Frylinck praised Smit highly, saying: “JJ just came in and took the pressure off me by hitting a couple of boundaries, and then myself and JJ just got us to a competitive total and the bowlers were just great after that.” 

Wicket Was A Little Bit Two-faced: Jan Frylinck

The formidable Sri Lanka fell in response as they lost wickets consistently. As Namibia made progress, Sri Lanka was bowled out for 108 in 19 overs, with two wickets apiece going to David Wiese, Bernard Scholtz, Ben Shikongo, and Jan Frylinck.  

“[The surface] it was a little bit two-faced, a little hard to get away. Other than that it stayed rather true. [With the bowling] just stuck to our plans, hit good lengths and let them make the mistakes,” Frylinck said.  

With the victory over Sri Lanka, Namibia has now defeated more full-member teams than both Bangladesh and Zimbabwe combined. Previously, at the T20 World Cup last year, Namibia defeated Ireland.