Namibian captain Gerhard Erasmus responded to Sachin Tendulkar’s message.© Twitter
Namibia caused a huge shock when the Gerhard Erasmus-led squad thrashed the reigning Asian champions Sri Lanka in the first round 1 match of the T20 World Cup at Kardinia Park in Geelong. Namibia recovered from 93 for six in the 15th over to post a challenging 163 for seven in 20 overs. Jan Frylinck (44 out of 28) and JJ Smit (31 out of 16) wreaked havoc in the death-overs, splitting a whirlwind 69-run stand off 33 balls to raise concerns in the Sri Lankan locker room.
In response, they bundled Sri Lanka for 108 runs in 19 overs. Ben Shikongo, Bernard Scholtz, Jan Frylinck and David Wiese each took two wickets for Namibia, while JJ Smit claimed one wicket.
Shortly after Namibia’s thrilling win, legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar took to Twitter and praised the Erasmus-led side.
“Namibia told the cricket world today…”Nam” yaad rakhna!” wrote.
Now Namibian skipper Erasmus took to the microblogging site and responded to Tendulkar’s post with a three-word tweet.
“Nam” yaad rakhna!” wrote Erasmus.
Nam Yaad Rakhna! https://t.co/Y5QKFifoTg
— Gerhard Erasmus (@gerharderasmus) October 16, 2022
During the post-match presentation, Erasmus praised his players for the special win, but said the team has a bigger goal in mind.
“Unbelievable journey, last year was a special experience for us. We started with a great win, but there is still a lot of work to be done during this tournament. It has been a historic day for us. The opening day was very special, but we want to start from here and qualify for the Super 12 stage.
promoted
“We also understand the bigger picture. Credit goes to Pierre (de Bruyn) for the way he has installed coaching for this team, a culture that is a winning culture and one that sticks together. With the limited resources I don’t think that there is someone else who could pilot such a tight ship,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)
Topics mentioned in this article