T20 World Cup: Pakistan ride on Sahibzada Farhan’s ton to beat Namibia, qualify for Super 8s

The innings, however, was anything but a serene cruise. It began with nervous energy and early fortune. He flashed hard at Jack Brassell in the fourth over, slicing one over the vacant slip cordon and then nearly playing on to Ruben Trumpelmann – the ball missing off stump by a whisker.

Once the nerves faded, he settled in quickly. A fierce pull off Brassell signalled intent, and when Trumpelmann offered width, Farhan flayed him through the off-side. The boundaries were not always textbook – one came off an edge, another dragged across the line – yet they carried authority.

The introduction of spin marked the first decisive shift. Willem Myburgh’s introduction in the ninth over proved costly. Farhan brought out the sweep to unleash back-to-back sixes over deep mid-wicket, lifting both tempo and belief.

There was a brief scare. Attempting to hit a drive back at Myburgh, Farhan went down clutching his right leg. But after treatment, he continued – and with greater control. His half-century came in the 12th over off 37 balls, and from there, the innings entered its most commanding phase.

Trumpelmann and Scholtz were targeted square of the wicket, Farhan repeatedly shuffling across to carve through cover or whip through mid-wicket. When Smit missed full, he was drilled straight back over long-off. A sliced flat-bat still carried all the way for six. Timing and power had merged.

The acceleration was clinical. In the 18th over, he short-arm jabbed for two, then shuffled inside the line of a cutter to whip Brassell into the fine-leg crowd. In the final over came the moment. Captain Gerhard Erasmus went full on middle; Farhan leaned forward and stroked it to long-on before raising his right arm in celebration. It was muscular, at times frenetic, occasionally fortunate – but ultimately match-defining.

Namibia crumble to spin

Namibia began their daunting chase of 200 with encouraging intent, racing to 32/1 inside four overs and briefly hinting at a contest. But the introduction of spin altered the trajectory of the innings dramatically.

Saim Ayub applied the squeeze first, varying his pace and forcing the batters to manufacture shots. Mohammad Nawaz soon followed with a sharper turn and bounce, while Usman Tariq and Shadab Khan ensured there was no respite from the other end. The quartet operated in tandem, drying up boundaries and steadily chipping away at the middle order.

Tariq finished as the most successful bowler on the day, with 4/16 and was well complemented by Shadab, who backed his blistering unbeaten 36 off 22 balls with the bat with 3/19 in four overs with the ball to seal a comprehensive victory.

Brief Scores: Pakistan 199/3 in 20 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 100, Salman Agha 38) beat Namibia 97 all out in 17.3 overs (Usman Tariq 4/16, Shadab Khan 3/19) by 102 runs

Based in Mumbai, Shankar Narayan has over five years of experience and his reporting has ranged from the Ranji Trophy to ICC World Cups, and he writes extensively on women’s cricket. ... Read More

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