THE ICC Men’s T20 World Cup kicked off in Geelong on Sunday afternoon, with a few sides producing statement performances on the opening night of action.

The competition will span across the months of October and November, with 45 matches coming from a combined 16 countries. Given the Aussies are the host side, they will not play until Saturday, with big crowds expected.

However, there will still a pair of matches to take place on the first day of play, with Namibia and the Netherlands the big winners from night one.

Namibia (163/7) def. Sri Lanka (108)

Namibia was excellent in its opening match of the tournament, defeating Sri Lanka in convincing fashion as the latter could not conjure the runs late in the match and found itself on the end of a shock loss.

Once a great cricketing nation, Sri Lanka has dropped off in recent years, and it culminated in a stunning defeat to an overlooked Namibia side.

The result was conjured from some big hitting from Jan Frylinck and JJ Smit got the victors back on track after a shaky start saw the Sri Lankans grab a bit of momentum. However, the total of 163 was too much for the Asia Cup Champions, who were bowled out for just over 100.

Batting first, Namibia lost three wickets inside the power play, and sitting at 3/43, before the middle order bounced back and pushed the side to an eventual winning total.

Frylinck claimed Player of the Match honours in deserving fashion, with terrific figures with both bat and ball. At the crease, he produced a match-high 44 from just 28 deliveries, producing a game-winning spark before being run out as Namibia tried to get its score as high as possible. He was also damaging towards the opposition batting order, with figures of 2/26 crucial as his side ripped through the Sri Lankans, holding them to quite a low total.

Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka fought valiantly to get his side’s score rolling with 29 runs from 23 balls, but the final six wickets saw just 34 runs produced, which was massive unders given the required total, as Namibia pulled off a massive boilover.

In the day’s other match, the Netherlands held on in the final over to claim a thrilling win over the UAE later in the evening. The winners edged past the opposition by three wickets on a tough surface from a batting perspective, with the ball gripping, but the Netherlands stuck fat and held on. Three final-over wickets from Bas De Leede kept the UAE’s score down and proved to be a vital effort in the tense victory. The victors’ batting order was held together well by a consistent performance, with six players scoring double-digits for the match. UAE opener Muhammad Waseem got his side off to an ideal start with bat in hand, producing 41 runs from 47 deliveries, but it was not enough.