Brilliant half-centuries from openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan and another scintillating performance from their bowlers helped Pakistan beat Namibia by 45 runs in a Group 2 match of the Super 12 stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup here on Tuesday.
Babar (70) and Rizwan (79 not out) started off slowly but exploded later in the innings as they helped Pakistan post another hundred-run stand at a challenging 189/2 in 20 overs.
Defending the total, the Pakistan bowlers did not give many chances to the Namibian batsmen and restricted them to 144/5 in their 20 overs for a comprehensive victory.
It was Pakistan’s fourth win in four matches, which earned them a place in the semi-finals. Pakistan’s team has reached the semi-finals of this tournament for the fifth time. Namibia lost their second match in three and finished fourth in the table with two points.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 189/2 in 20 overs (Babur 70, Rizwan 79 not out, Mohammad Hafeez 32 not out; David Wiese 1/30) beat Namibia 144/5 in 20 overs (Craig Williams 40, David Wiese 43 not out) Hasan Ali 1-22, Imad Wasim 1/13) by 45 runs.
