Pakistan captains Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan run between the wickets as David Wiese of Namibia during the Cricket Twenty20 World Cup match between Pakistan and Namibia in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Tuesday, November 2, 2021.
Opener Mohammad Rizwan continued his stellar run with a scintillating 79-run stand as Pakistan stormed into the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup after beating Namibia by 45 runs here on Tuesday.
Scoring just 12 runs in his first 21 balls, the wicketkeeper-batsman smashed 67 runs in his next 29 balls as Pakistan scored 130 runs in the back-10 to set a challenging target of 190 for tournament debutants. Make it
Rizwan’s 50-ball innings had four sixes and eight fours, while his captain Babar Azmi A record-breaking 113-run opening stand soaked up the initial pressure with a 49-ball 70.
With the knock, Rizwan (1661) overtook the Indian captain Virat Kohli (1614) and only five remained shy Chris Gayle (1665) became the batsman with the most T20 runs in a calendar year.
Babar and Rizwan overtook the Indian pair to become the first opening pair to share a partnership of more than five centuries. Rohit Sharma And Shikhar DhawanMatch four.
The pair also became the first to score more than 1000 T20I runs – 1041 – in a calendar year, as Pakistan took control of the game.
Mohd Hafeezy He also came back with a sensational cameo of 32 not out off 16 balls (5×4), something that gave Rizwan much-needed respite in the middle.
In the backend, Rizwan and Hafeez had such an impact that Pakistan scored 71 runs in the last five overs.
In reply, Namibia were restricted to 144 for five, with David Wiese scoring 43 off 31 balls and Craig Williams scoring 40.
leader in the game, Hassan AliBowling form was the weakest link in Pakistan’s otherwise flawless performance in this World Cup, but the pacer seemed to have found his momentum, returning impressive figures of 1/22 in four overs.
Ali was given the new ball and he impressed early, cleaning up Michael van Lingen to give Pakistan a decent start.
At the halfway point Namibia needed 120 with eight wickets in hand, but Pakistan looked completely in control.
Namibian superstar all-rounder Wiese delivered his big hits but lacked the support at the other end in the challenging chase.
Earlier, Namibia grabbed the honor by conceding just 59 runs at the halfway mark in the first 10 overs.
It was a slow start for the Pakistani pair, who were batting first for the first time in four matches, with the Namibian bowlers giving them hardly any space.
Trumpelman led the attack brilliantly, coming back with figures of 2-1-2-0 in his first spell, as Pakistan scored just six runs in the first three overs.
Rizwan struggled to go and saw that LBW’s decision was reversed while he was scoring two runs off 11 balls.
The wicketkeeper was further tested after he was hit by a short-pitch delivery from Ben Shikongo, but managed to hold on, even as his captain went after the bowling.
Babar took the early lead and completed his third half-century in four matches.
Rizwan breaks free against Namibia’s best bowler, Trumpelman, walks out to hit him at long-on.
It also meant that left-arm medium-pacer Trumpelman, who conceded just two runs and bowled maidens in his first two overs, was dismissed for 34 with Rizwan-Hafeez in his last two.
Pakistan also got some help from the dew at the back end of the innings as the Namibians struggled to stem the run flow, even as Babar & Co.’s strategy of keeping the wickets in hand paid dividends .
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