Jan Frylinck slams 13-ball fifty in third T20I vs Zimbabwe

The third and final T20I between the sides at the Queen's Sports Club in Bulawayo saw visiting skipper Gerhard Erasmus elect to bat first. Jan Frylinck, taking strike, started with a bang as he collected three boundaries in a row in Wellington Masakadza's first over.

He then went after Blessing Muzarabani, hitting 6, 4, 4 to end the second over. But the fourth of the innings was when Frylinck really stepped on the gas. Pacer Trevor Gwandu felt the full force of his blade, as the left-hander hit 4, 6, 4, 6 to bring up a half-century off just 13 balls. Frylinck did not stop there either, hitting his next ball for six as well.

He eventually made it to 77 off 30, and would certainly have been eyeing a maiden T20I century, before falling to Sikandar Raza. This was his highest score in the format, overtaking his 57* against Kenya in 2023.  

Frylinck's 13-ball half-century is the joint-third fastest in men's T20I cricket, behind Dipendra Singh Airee's nine-ball fifty against Mongolia and Yuvraj Singh's 12-ball effort against England. Three other players have done it in 13 deliveries. The previous record for Namibia was Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton's 18-ball half-century against Nepal in 2024.

13 balls is now the quickest half-century by an Associate batter against a Full Member team, beating Michael van Lingen's 22-ball fifty for the same team against the same opposition in Windhoek in 2023.  

Fastest men's T20I fifties, full list

For Against

Year
Dipendra Singh Airee 9 Nepal Mongolia Hangzhou 2023
Yuvraj Singh* 12 India England Durban 2007
Mirza Ahsan 13 Austria Luxembourg Ilfov County 2019
Muhammad Fahad 13 Turkey Bulgaria Sofia 2025
Tadiwanashe Marumani 13 Zimbabwe Gambia Nairobi (Ruaraka) 2024
Jan Frylinck* 13 Namibia Zimbabwe Bulawayo 2025
Colin Munro* 14 New Zealand Sri Lanka Auckland 2016
Ramesh Satheesan 14 Romania Serbia Sofia 2021
Sahil Chauhan 14 Estonia Cyprus Episkopi 2024
Faisal Khan 15 Saudi Arabia Kuwait Al Amerat 2019
Quinton de Kock* 15 South Africa West Indies Centurion 2023
Babar Hayat 15 Hong Kong UAE Mulpani 2023
Taranjit Singh 15 Cyprus Estonia Episkopi 2024
*Scored against ICC Full Members

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