144/5 (20.0)
CR : 7.20
189/2 (20.0)
CR : 9.45
Pakistan won by 45 runs 🏆
Player of the Match
Mohammad Rizwan
79(50)
19.4
0
S Afridi to D Wiese
Slower bouncer that is angled across the batter outside off, Wiese stands tall and slaps it off the edge into the keeper's gloves as Rizwan leaps to his left to collect it. It was a free hit of course so it won't count.
19.5
2
S Afridi to D Wiese
Now a low full toss outside off. Wiese bends low, Wiese mistimes his swing over mid-wicket and into the deep for a brace.
19.6
0
S Afridi to D Wiese
Dot and that's it. Pakistan have secured their semifinal berth! Slower short delivery outside off and Wiese hops in his crease shaping for a pull. He misses out as the ball lobs towards the keeper. Pakistan beat Namibia by 55 runs to make it four off four.
Over 20
Namibia 144/5
David Wiese43(31)
Nicol Loftie-Eaton7(7)
Shaheen Afridi0-36(4.0)
PAK won by 45 runs
Arjun: That is it. They have done it. They have secured their semifinal berth under Babar Azam's leadership. They beat Namibia by 55 runs to make it four off four. A dream run for the Men in Green, thus far in the tournament.
This game can be summed in four quarters. The first half of the first innings belonged to Namibia. Then the ball was doing all kinds of tricks. Some deliveries were gripping in the deck, even a batter of calibre of Md. Rizwan was struggling to “put the bat on the ball”. Indeed, he was struggling and a drinks break turned things around. From 16 off 25, Rizwan finished on 79 off 50. From 59-0 at the halfway stage, Pakistan reached 189-2. It was that kind of innings for the Group 2 favourites.
The Babar Azam led Men in Green took the momentum in the second innings, but it was Gerhard Erasmus' men who had the upper hand in the first half of another innings, before Babar's boys came back and used the pressure of scoreboard to their advantage.
All the Namibian batters tried to go for the target. Craig Williams, Stephan Baard and David Weise tried to tee off the bowlers, but Pakistan's bowling and the runs on the board were too much for them. Baard and Williams put on a solid partnership. Alas Baard fell to a run out, and that was the time where the Men in Green took the lead. David Wiese was once again with runs but he had a giant cliff to climb and he could not.
All spinners were on point, that too with the wet ball. But it was the skills of Haris Rauf who cracked the middle order. He was once again bowling at a smearing pace and was changing pace to deceive the batters. Apart from him, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan picked up a wicket each.
All in all, another brilliant day at the office for Babar's side. Another clinical performance by Pakistan as they make it four from four matches.
Mohammad Rizwan | Player of the Match:"The conditions were difficult in the start. It was difficult to attack and play your strokes. We decided to play deep and then unleash later on. The Namibia bowlers bowled brilliantly in the same areas. When you are not able to execute your strokes, you need to back yourself and wait for it. Hafeez bhai gave us the push with his amazing knock down the order. Our team is in good shape and all the areas are up to the mark. Off spinners, left arm spinners, batters at the end of the innings, everyone is doing well so all the boxes are ticked for us for the semifinals. I would request my fellow countrymen to keep supporting the team."
Gerhard Erasmus: "Pakistan look like a serious title contenders. They are a quality side and we knew we had to play our best cricket today. We haven't played too many games at this level, but with this kind of exposure I am sure we'll do well. I thought after the 11 over mark they were the better side and showed their quality in the end. I hope we can take lessons from this game and come back better next time around. The finger is getting better (On his injury)."
Babar Azam: "It's really good, we're maintaining our winning momentum. We wanted to do things differently today, test our batting. Conditions were tough early on, they bowled well and we wanted to take the partnership deep. The way Hafeez batted and got into form, it was important for us as he is a key player. Hasan Ali was given the new ball as conditions were suitable. If you need to win tournaments, you need to be consistent across all departments. The fielding was a bit lax, there was dew, so that's an area to improve. Need to keep improving and irrespective of whom we face in the semifinal, we want to maintain the same intensity."
That's all we have from the commentary box. We have a double header tomorrow. Do join us for our coverage in Onecricket and Cricket Exchange. Till then it's ta-ta and goodnight from me, Arjun Bhalla, and my fellow commentators Anurag Dasgupta (DG) and Ninaad Dixit.