Match Details
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.