Namibia stare into the bright lights

Ben Shikongo watched the ball as Hardik Pandya gave him a quick pat on the back while crossing over. The Namibia pacer's wide yorker had just been sliced for a four behind point to wrap up the 16th over. Until halfway through that over, Shikongo embodied perfection. The small-framed pacer stood up to one of the fiercest finishers in the game, not allowing him to get under yorker length deliveries on the off-stump. He also went wide against Shivam Dube and nullified any options of a big hit.

But Pandya, with all his T20 calculations and muscle, prevailed. The first yorker Shikongo missed went for a straight six and the next full ball went for a four. Mistakes, however miniscule, were punished. That last four, and the pat, said everything about Namibia's harrowing night.

At different stages, Namibia played like the class divide between their 'Associateness' and India's Full Member muscle didn't exist on the field. They went at Ishan Kishan with a wide line outside off stump at the start of the PowerPlay, probing a zone of vulnerability. Shortly after, they switched it around, posting both deep fielders on the leg side, and bowling straight in search of a miscue. Against a batter of his current touch, that backfired and India exited the PowerPlay with 86/1. Five deliveries later, India had the fastest team hundred in T20 World Cup history.

Namibia at this point risked going off course entirely if they let the weight of the scorecard and the partisan crowd get to them. But a refreshing push back ensued through Gerhard Erasmus's off-spin and Bernard Scholtz's left-arm spin as they bowled six overs through the middle for 30 runs and three wickets. Spin in the middle-overs has held back Tilak Varma, and it happened again. He scored five off 10 against the two spinners before misjudging an Erasmus delivery released from well behind the crease—a trademark variation.

India still arrived at the death overs, capable of burying Namibia under a mountain of runs. And Namibia showed they could still counter-punch. Ruben Trumplemann and JJ Smit sent down wide yorkers to stifle Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube, and Erasmus bowled a tough over to return with two wickets and a run-out. India added just 25 runs off the last 18 balls, to finish with 209/9.

Namibia's fight spilled over to the chase and they kept pace with what was needed all through the PowerPlay, and in a Jasprit Bumrah over beyond. But Varun CV came armed with variations, the rare instinct to start with a googly, and the kind of spin wizardry Namibia batters hadn't faced before. The damage across his first two overs set Namibia back.

"I think just the spell of Varun… it's a skill that we don't naturally see in our level of cricket [mystery bowling]. Yes, there's leg spin, googly… every now and again that you face and people have become accustomed to that, but it's only in a few countries that they have guys bowling googlies and doosras," Erasmus said. "I don't think there's anyone in Associate cricket that bowls it. There's probably Sher Malla, who is the closest guy. Honestly, I have to say that, that was the game-breaker right there."

"I think he [Varun] had three for five at one stage. So for us, that's another learning, it's another one to take forward for the next World Cups, for next games against big nations. It's about how quickly the game evolves and how you can prepare for guys like that," he added.

One of Erasmus's biggest concerns heading to Thursday was that the glare of a World Cup night against India in India might be too bright for his boys. But they stared straight at it, never looking away in fear of being blinded. Yet the scorecard spoke a different tongue. It was a night where Namibia were good and worth that pat, but still not nearly good enough.