Published: Nov 03, 2021, 07:38 AM (IST)
Edited: Nov 03, 2021, 10:15 AM (IST)
Abu Dhabi: Four out of four, Pakistan has been the team to beat in the ongoing T20 World Cup. On Tuesday, the Babar Azam-led side came up with yet another clinical performance against Namibia. Pakistan beat Namibia by 45 runs. But what happened after the win is what caught attention. After the win, the Pakistan cricket team visited the Namibian dressing-room. It was not planned and was a surprise for the Namibian players.
Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Hasan Ali, Fakhar Zaman, and Shadab Khan were amongst the players present in the video shared by the official Twitter handle of Pakistan. Team officials shared some encouraging words about Namibia’s efforts, followed by everyone embracing them.
#SpiritofCricket – Pakistan team visited Namibia dressing room to congratulate them on their journey in the @T20WorldCup#WeHaveWeWill | #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/4PQwfn3PII
Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) November 2, 2021
The 2009 T20 World Champions batted first for the first time in the tournament and put up 189 runs on the board which they successfully defended it. The Men in Green after their fourth win on the trot qualify for the semi-finals.
Pakistan will now face Scotland in their last Super 12 encounter.
Rizwan’s 50-ball knock contained four sixes and eight fours, while his skipper Babar Azam soaked up the early pressure with a classy 70 from 49 deliveries in a record-breaking 113-run opening stand.
With the knock, Rizwan (1661) surpassed Indian skipper Virat Kohli (1614) and remained just five shy of Chris Gayle (1665) to become the batter with most T20 runs in a calendar year.
Babar and Rizwan became the first opening pair to post five century-plus partnerships, bettering the Indian duo Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan’s tally of four.
The pair also became the first to aggregate 1000-plus T20I runs — 1041 — in a calendar year as Pakistan seized control of the game.
Mohammad Hafeez also returned to form with a sensational cameo of 32 not out from 16 balls (5×4), something that allowed Rizwan the much-needed breather in the middle.
Such was the impact of Rizwan and Hafeez in the back-end that Pakistan scored 71 runs from the last five overs.
In reply, Namibia was restricted to 144 for five with David Wiese making 43 from 31-balls and Craig Williams scoring 40.
(With agency inputs)
