Pakistan outplay Namibia to qualify for Super Eights

Thursday, 19 February 2026 04:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Jack Brassell took two of the three Pakistani wickets to fall

Usman Tariq celebrates his four wickets with a bow

Sahibzada Farhan leaps in celebration after reaching his hundred

Opener Sahibzada Farhan hit a superb unbeaten century (100* off 58 balls, 11 fours, 4 sixes) batting through the 20 overs to give Pakistan a resounding win by 102 runs against Namibia at the SSC Grounds yesterday.

It was Pakistan’s biggest win in T20 World Cups by runs and saw them finish second in Group A to India and qualify for a place in the Super Eights.

Pakistan’s total of 199-3 was way too much for Namibia with the quality of spinners they had in their armoury and they succumbed to 97 all out in 17.3 overs. Pakistan got the ball to turn almost at right angles to what the Namibians managed to do.

Farhan played a great innings where he went from 30 off 27 balls to record his maiden T20I hundred in the next 31 balls. He had a 67-run partnership off 42 balls with his Captain Salman Agha (38 off 23), before Shadab Khan (36* off 22) shared another fifty-run stand – 81 off 40 balls – after being promoted up the order.

The start was decent for Namibia against the pacers but the deal was sealed once the spinners came on. Off-spinner Usman Tariq grabbed a four-fer (4/16), Shadab picked up three (3/19) to erase memories of the Indian game.

Farhan came up trumps to help his side on the big day. He was cramping and needed medical attention. At one stage, he was on 30 off 27 but motored after that. From that point, he brutalised the ball en route to his fifth T20I ton, which was also the second by a Pakistani player in T20 World Cups after Ahmed Shehzad’s in 2014.

Saim Ayub went early but the partnership between Farhan and Agha set Pakistan on the way. Nafay was promoted after Agha’s wicket but he didn’t last long and then Shadab joined to make a good contribution. But it was all about Farhan who used his strong muscular forearms to great effect and powered his way to a fine century to take the Player of the Match award. – [ST]

Scores:

Pakistan 199-3 (20) (Sahibzada Farhan 100*, Salman Agha 38, Shadab Khan 36*, Jack Brassell 2/48)

Namibia 97 (17.3) (Louren Steenkamp 23, Alexander Volschenk 20, Shadab Khan 3/19, Usman Tariq 4/16)