T20 World Cup Day 1: Namibia stuns Sri Lanka; points table, Day 2 schedule

The ICC T20 World Cup 2022 commenced in Australia on Sunday (October 16) with Namibia registering a famous win over former champion Sri Lanka in the tournament opener in Geelong.

Also read: T20 World Cup: Full list of commentators

Later in the day, in a battle between two Associate teams, The Netherlands held its nerve to seal a three-wicket victory with one ball to spare over the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the same venue – GMHBA Stadium in Geelong.

Also read: T20 World Cup: Format, points system, reserve days, super over, COVID rules

The T20 World Cup’s opening day featured two matches from Group A of the First Round. Four teams will progress to the Super 12s. There are eight teams competing in the First Round.

Namibia vs Sri Lanka

After being sent into bat first, Namibia was struggling at 93/6 but rallied to post a challenging 163/7 in 20 overs. No. 6 batter Jan Frylinck was the top-scorer with 44 off 28 with four fours. He later took two wickets for 26 in four overs and won the Player-of-the-match award.

In reply, Sri Lanka was bowled out for 108 in 19 overs. The 2014 T20 World Cup champion was reduced to 40/4 and never recovered from there. Captain Dasun Shanaka was the highest scorer with 29 off 23 with two fours and a six.

A historic win for Namibia 🔥#T20WorldCup | #SLvNAM | 📝 https://t.co/vuNGEcX62U pic.twitter.com/AvCsiz9X7K

— ICC (@ICC) October 16, 2022

Also read: T20 World Cup: Schedule, squads, groups, live TV, streaming, audio

The Netherlands vs UAE

UAE, which elected to bat first, managed only 111/8 in 20 overs with opener Muhammad Waseem sharing the batting honours with 41 (47 balls, 1×4, 2×6). Bas de Leede was the pick of the bowlers for the Dutch side with 3/19 in three overs.

In reply, Netherlands was 76/6 in 13.3 overs and the match headed towards a thrilling finish. Skipper Scott Edwards (16 off 19) stayed till the end and ensured that the team crossed the line with one ball to spare as they scored 112/7 in 19.5 overs.

An incredible opening day of the #T20WorldCup comes to an end 🔥

Netherlands cross the finish line in yet another thrilling contest!#UAEvNED |📝 https://t.co/sD75sGYNF1 pic.twitter.com/Kh8yIBhSeJ

— ICC (@ICC) October 16, 2022

Also read: T20 World Cup: How the 16 teams qualified for tournament in Australia

T20 World Cup Points Table after Day 1 results

Group A: 1. Namibia (2 points); 2. The Netherlands (2); 3. UAE (0); 4. Sri Lanka (0).

What next for these 4 teams in Group A

With three more matches left in the First Round stage, Sri Lanka cannot afford to lose any of those games in order to progress to Super 12s. The same applies to UAE. The two teams face off on Tuesday in Geelong. On the same day, Namibia meets The Netherlands. Sri Lanka can take heart from the fact that it lost the opening game in the recent Asia Cup 2022 and went on to win the trophy.

Monday’s (October 17) matches (All times IST)

First Round Group B

• Scotland vs West Indies – 9:30 AM, Hobart
• Ireland vs Zimbabwe – 1:30 PM, Hobart

Two-time T20 World Cup champion West Indies have to go through the qualifying stage and captain Nicholas Pooran said facing Scotland would be a challenge.

“It’ll be a challenge. But our guys are confident. We’ve been here for over two weeks now. I think the guys are ready to go and acclimatizing to these conditions. A lot of these guys haven’t played in Australia. This will be the first time, but the guys are confident, they’re happy. The preparation has been really good, and we just can’t wait for tomorrow to start our game,” Pooran said on the eve of the match.

Also read: T20 World Cup – Rewind: Yuvraj’s 6 sixes, India’s historic win, and more

What captains said after the first day’s T20 World Cup matches

Gerhard Erasmus (Namibia)

“Reading the tabloids this morning, I think it was about 11 per cent, I guess, and after reading that, it sort of gives you just that underdog feel again, and having that underdog feel backed with a bit of real belief, not the childish behind the scenes one but the real belief that you’ve played at the level, I think that that’s what happened today, I guess.

“We just went on to the field on an equal footing to the Sri Lankan side. As I said, if more opportunities like these arise for associate nations, they’ve shown over the years that they do close the gap and get to the level, and they’re good actually quite quickly. I guess that’s a call for more of these games for us, I guess.”

Also read: T20 World Cup 2022 prize money details announced; check here

Dasun Shanaka (Sri Lanka)

“I think there’s nothing to worry about. It’s the first game. The way we played is the worry. I think we are a better team than this, and especially when it comes to bowling. If you look at their bowling, they really bowled in good areas, where our bowlers didn’t do.

“I think we should learn quickly from that and come back in the next game. The other thing is batting. We can’t lose three wickets in the powerplay, which makes it very tough to chase down anything over 150. I think credit to their players, and the way they played. That’s it.”

Scott Edwards (The Netherlands)

“It was always a bit nervy, just relief in the end. It was making the most of the powerplay and we knew it would be tough in the middle. We lost a few too many wickets as we were getting going. It was just about being busy, and playing as low-risk as we could…we ended up getting across the line. All the [bowlers] did their job, they were all great. I’m still struggling to process it, just relief at the moment.”

Chundangapoyil Rizwan (UAE)

“It’s definitely heart-breaking, we put our heart and soul into the game. We could have grabbed those chances… I could have grabbed that (catch). We discussed that it’s not that easy to chase here, so told the boys it’s never over until the last ball. We nearly pulled that off. We had to ensure we get wickets, but also have (Junaid’s) over for the end. We should be happy with the effort.”