Pakistan Storm Into T20 World Cup Semi Finals After Win Against Namibia

Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam's half-centuries followed by disciplined bowling helped Pakistan beat Namibia by 45 runs in the 31st match of the T20 World Cup in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. 

Chasing 190, Namibia lost Michael van Lingen early as Stephan Baard and Craig Williams could only score 34 runs inside the powerplay. Baard and Williams added 47 for the second wicket before the former got run out on 29. 

Captain Gerhard Erasmus couldn't contribute much and scored just 15. Namibia batters weren't able to make partnerships despite Williams making 40 off 37 and David Wiese remaining not out on 43 off 31 balls. 

Apart from Shaheen Afridi, all the other bowlers got one wicket each as Pakistan restricted Namibia to 144/5 in the second innings. 

Earlier, after deliberately opting to bat first, Pakistan got off to a slow start as they only scored 29 runs inside the powerplay but didn't lose any wicket. Soon after the powerplay ended, Babar began to break free and smashed 70 runs in 49 balls with the help of seven fours. 

The openers added 113 runs for the first wicket in 14 overs before Azam got out. Namibia removed Fakhar Zaman in the next over and it looked like the scoring rate will decrease. 

However, Rizwan turned on his demolition mode and added 67 runs in just 26 balls along with Mohammad Hafeez to give a terrific finish to Pakistan. Rizwan smashed 79 from 50 balls with the help of eight fours and four sixes. Hafeez, on the other end, hit 32 in just 16 balls. 

Brief Scorecard: 

Pakistan - 189/2 
Namibia - 144/5