Abu Dhabi: All-round performance by Afghanistan saw them thrashing Namibia by 62 runs in the first Group 2 game of the day in Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Stadium in the Super 12 stage of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
This is Afghanistan’s second win after playing three matches in the group stage. Naveen-ul-Haq and Hamid Hassan scalped three wickets each for Afghanistan as Namibia was restricted to 98/9 in their chase of 161 runs. Defending 161, Afghanistan bowled brilliantly in the first 10 overs as they ripped through Namibia’s top order to take control of the game. Craig Williams, Michael van Lingen, Nicol Loftie-Eaton, and Zane Green were the Namibian batters who walked back into the dressing room in the first half of the innings.
In the latter half, things quickly went from bad to worse as Namibia’s chase was completely dismantled by Hamid Hassan who struck twice in the 11th over to remove Gerhard Erasmus and JJ Smit.
Wickets kept falling for the African side as Afghanistan put two more points on the board in the Super 12 stage.
Batting first, Mohammad Nabi once again played a crucial cameo for Afghanistan at the back end of the innings as his 17-ball 32* powered the team to 160.
Afghanistan finished strongly in the death, scoring 46 runs in the last four overs as Namibia bowlers were guilty of bowling a few too many loose balls. Earlier, Zazai put Afghanistan in a strong position after the Powerplay before regular wickets brought Namibia back into the game.
Brief Scores: Afghanistan 160/5 (Mohammad Shahzad 45, Hazratullah Zazai 33; Nicol Loftie-Eaton 2-21, Ruben Trumpelmann 2-34) vs Namibia 98/9 (David Wiese 26, Nicol Loftie-Eaton 14; Hamid Hassan 3-9, Naveen-ul-Haq 3-26)
