T20 World Cup, Pakistan vs Namibia Highlights: Pakistan comfortably beat Namibia by 45 runs to enter the semi-finals of the ICC T20 World Cup here on Tuesday.
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Batting first, Mohammed Rizwan’s unbeaten 79 off 50 balls and skipper Babar Azam’s 70 off 48 balls ensured a commanding 189 for two in 20 overs. Mohammed Hafeez also smashed 32 off 16 balls at the death. In reply, Namibia were restricted to 144 for five with Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan picking up a wicket apiece.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 189/2 in 20 overs (Md Rizwan 79 not out, Babar Azam 70, Md Hafeez 32 not out). Namibia 144/5 in 20 overs (Craig Williams 40, David Wiese 43 not out, Imad Wasim 1/13).
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The last over is just a formality now. They need 62 from 6 balls. Shaheen Afridi to finish this off. Huge six by Weise. Shuffles across just a tad, got it in his arc and sends it over deep square leg. And it's a no ball and 4 runs off it. All over. Pakistan qualify for the semis. Beat Namibia by 45 runs.
The penultimate over starts of the Namibian innings. There's the first one! In the slot and Wiese just gets under it, scoops a straight hit and flops just beyond the rope! Match is all but over now. 12 off the over. NAM 128/5 after 19 overs.
17th over starts. Namibia are struggling now with runs being stifled. Haris Rauf in to bowl. And Rauf takes another. Smit is gone. Namibia are starting to crumble. NAM 110/5 after 16.5 overs.
And another goes down. Shadab has a wicket right at the end of his spell. Plinked to long-off, Shadab strikes with his final ball! Floats up a tempter wide of the stumps and Williams' eyes light up... only for him to slice it, possibly the bat twisting in his hands, and it's a simple catch for the man coming in off the rope. NAM 93/4 after 14 overs.
And the skipper goes. He was looking dangerous. Chipped to the edge of the off-side ring. PAK get important wicket as NAM lose 3rd wicket. NAM 83/3 after 12.3 overs.
Shadab to bowl the 12th over. Stumping appeal but no. Erasmus is fine. Just 1 off the 11th over. And Shaheen Afridi has dropped one. Erasmus survives. And 4 the next ball. 7 off this over. NAM 78/2 after 12 overs.
And SIXXXX. It's rifled straight by the Namibian skipper. And Shadab is hit for another 4 as we go for drinks. That's more like it from Namibia. 14 off the over. NAM 70/2 after 10 overs.
And Williams has gone for it. Hafeez gets the treatment. Down the wicket, and lofted over long-on. And I think this is a run out. Oh no, it is just short of the crease at the time Rizwan whips the bails off. Perhaps the toe-end of the bat got stuck in the turf, but timely breakthrough for Pakistan!. Baard walks. NAM 55/2 after 8.4 overs.
Wasim to Williams and is this out? They are checking for a stumping. Just pitched around off, and gripped a touch away. Nope. Foot is grounded. Namibia need to get a move along. And the last ball is whacked away for a 4. NAM 40/1 after 7 overs.
Last over of powerplay begins. Namibia are having a slow start, considering the need to reach 190. Rauf to bowl and starts with a wide. And Baard has picked this one up. Sublime shot for a 6. 10 off this over. NAM 34/1 after 6 overs.
Hasan Ali starts the 4th over. This has been a slow start by the Namibians. Need to hit more boundaries like this one. Short, and he almost ends up playing an evasive shot. One hand off the bat, but it has run away off the edge towards fine leg. 8 off this over. PAK 23/1 after 4 overs.
Shaheen in to bowl the 3rd. Gets hit for a 4 in the 4th ball. Driven on the up by Baard, with some width on offer outside off. 7 off this over. NAM 15/0 after 3 overs.
And the first wicket goes. Ali strikes gold. Clean bowled. Michael van Lingen is gone. Missed it completely. That will do his confidence a lot of good. NAM 8/1 after 1.3 overs.
Shaheen Shah Afridi to get things moving. Baard beaten starightaway with two back to back balls. Slight misfield and Namibia get 2 runs on the board. 4 to end the over. NAM 7/0 after 1 over.
5 Babar Azam - Mohammad Rizwan
4 Rohit - Dhawan
4 Guptill - Williamson
- All five century stands between Babar and Rizwan have come in 2021.
190/4 Afg v Sco Sharjah
189/2 Pak v Sco Abu Dhabi
181/7 Ban v PNG Al Amerat
172/5 SL v Ban Sharjah
1665 Chris Gayle (2015)
1661 MOHD RIZWAN (2021) *
1614 Virat Kohli (2016)
1607 Babar Azam (2019)
Last over now. 180 seems a probabale total. But you never know with these matches. And Rizwan starts with a 4. Crowd wanted a 6 and well, they got it. Huge SIXXX by Rizwan. And another four. What is happening here? Rizwan has just exploded after a cagey start. And another 4 to follow. Smit is getting pummeled. And another 4. Every ball has been sent to the boundary. And a 2 to end. PAK reach 189/2 after 20 overs.
And the penultimate over starts. Wiese to bowl. And a 6 to bring up his half century. What a shot. That has gone miles. 10 off the over. Just one more to go. PAK 165/2 after 19 overs.
Trumpelmann gets treated the same by Hafeez. He is just toying with the fielders. And another. Big shot. Outside edge and there's another four runs to add to the total. Another inside edge. Could have been caught. Not going the bowler's way at all. And another 4 to finish the over. Easily put away by Hafeez. 3 fours in this over. PAK 155/2 after 18 overs.
And Hafeez is just getting going. two back to back fours off Smit. And those are not even bad balls. 11 off this over. 17 gone. PAK 138/2 after 17 overs.
Frylinck to bowl the 16th over. Is that an LBW? Namibia take a review and lose the review. Rizwan is good. And Zaman is gone. What a catch by the wicketkeeper. PAK 122/2 after 15.4 overs.
8 off the last over which was the 14th. The 15th will start now. Pakistan are chuffing along nicely. The runs coming from everywhere. Namibia really need a wicket. And the first ball gone for a four. Should have been stoffed but misfielded. Presure growing? And he's gone. Babar holes out to deep midwicket! Finally a breakthrough for Namibia. Wiese gets his wicket. PAK 113/1 after 14.2 overs.
Loftie-Eaton in to bowl and gets hit for a 6 in the 3rd ball. Wonderful use of the fit. Rizwan finally finding his groove in this match. And 100 up for PAK in te last ball of this over. PAK 101/2 after 13 overs.
And Trumpelmann has been hit for the first six of the innings. It was mishit but it still had enough to sail over the ropes. And another four. Pakistan is increasing the intensity now. It's taken a while but they have started going for the bowlers now. And another four to follow. Expensive over. 18 off it. PAK 89/0 after 12 overs.
Shikongo to bowl the 11th over. And the second ball is flicked for a 4 by Rizwan. Short and shovelled off the hip and beats the man. Haven't been a dot ball for a while. Pakistan batsmen seem to get a run or two in every ball. And another 4 to end the innings. Great shot by Babar. Deftly placed. 12 off the over. PAK 71/0 after 11 overs.
We are almost halfway through this innings and Pakistan are struggling for boundaries. The last over went for just 5 runs. Very good bowling by Namibia. And Loftie-Eaton eats a boundary. Babar finally gets a boundary after a few overs. 9 off this over, PAK 59/0 after 10 overs.
23/0 by Gibraltar vs Spain, 2019
24/0 by West Indies vs India, 2014
29/0 by Bangladesh vs Oman, 2016
29/0 by Pakistan vs Namibia, Today
The 8th over begins. Just 7 off the previous one. Namibia are bowling pretty well. Can they restrict Pakistan to a low score? They need wickets now though. Frylinck brought back into the attack for the 8th. Just 9 off this one. Pakistan are keeping the score ticking with singles and two runs.
Here's Jan Frylinck. Last over of the powerplay. Will Pakistan go for the big shots now? And yes, Babar hits a 4. Thrashed this through wide cover. Brilliant over though. Just 6 off it. PAK 29/0 after 6 overs.
And Azam looks to find his groove with that masterful strike. What a 4. This has been whipped away through mid-wicket. And gone. LBW. Pakistan will review it though. Rizwan looks to be gone but let's see. Nope. Just pitching outside leg! He survives, and by a matter of centimetres! And punishes the next ball for a 4. You got to feel for Namibia. This one has been pushed to fine leg. 10 off this one. PAK 23/0 after 5 overs.
This is a very low scoring pitch and Namibia has started the bowling pretty well. And a four finally by Pakistan. It's crunched by Babar to through the covers. 7 off the over ultimately. PAK 13/0 after 4 overs.
Trumpelmann in to bowl the third. He is bowling a brilliant line and Pakistan hasn't scored a boundary yet. That's a huge compliment for the bowler considering there's Babar and Rizwan in the crease. Big shout for LBW but Namibia does not take a review. Pakistan getting pegged back. PAK 6/0 after 3 overs.
Wiese in to bowl the second over. Babar hits a great shot to get off the mark. First runs of the innings and it's 3. Good over nonetheless. Just 4 off it. PAK 4/0 after 2 overs.
Trumplemann starts proceedings. Brilliant bowling by the Namibian pacer to start off. And he is using the pace very well. Starts off with a maiden. Great start. PAK 0/0 after 1 over.
The national anthems are done. Now for the action to begin. Trumplemann with the first over for the Namibians. He will start off to Rizwan. Babar in the non-striker's end.
Pakistan (Playing XI): Mohammad Rizwan(w), Babar Azam(c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi
Namibia (Playing XI): Stephan Baard, Michael van Lingen, Craig Williams, Gerhard Erasmus(c), Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Zane Green(w), David Wiese, JJ Smit, Jan Frylinck, Ruben Trumpelmann, Ben Shikongo
The coin goes up. Erasmus calls heads. It's tails. Pakistan win toss. Opt to bat against Namibia.
This is only the second instance of Pakistan playing Namibia in an international match. The previous meeting came in the 2003 world cup which Pakistan won by 171 runs
A win for Pakistan against Namibia will be enough for them to qualify. The four-way tie can happen only if both Namibia and Afghanistan win all their remaining games and Pakistan beat Scotland.
Two of Namibia's three lowest totals in T20Is have come in this tournament: 96 all-out vs Sri Lanka and 98/9 vs Afghanistan.
Pakistan likely XI: Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf
Namibia likely XI: Stephan Baard, Zane Green (wk), Craig Williams, Gerhard Erasmus (c), David Wiese, JJ Smit, Michael van Lingen, Jan Frylinck, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard Scholtz
Hello and welcome to the live commentary of the T20 World Cup match between Pakistan and debutants Namibia in Abu Dhabi tonight. Pakistan will aim to maintain consistency against a spirited Namibia side and seal semifinal spot. Namibia, who were blown away by Afghanistan on Sunday, will be looking to compete against a top side.