Spinners secure Pakistan's Super Eights berth after Farhan's hundred

In a must-win game to seal their Super Eights berth, Pakistan made tough decisions, dropping Shaheen Afridi and not using Babar Azam to bat. They drubbed Namibia by 102 runs in Colombo to secure a smooth passage into the next round.

Pakistan opted to bat first and rode their luck early. Saim Ayub survived several false shots before edging to wicketkeeper Zane Green off Jack Brassell. Sahibzada Farhan endured a rusty start but Pakistan still scored 40 in the first five overs.

After a couple of quiet overs, Salman Agha stepped out and tonked Willem Myburgh down the ground. Farhan then hit consecutive sixes off the leg-spinner but tumbled over attempting a third, hurting his right leg. He struggled running between wickets but compensated by leathering the ball at will.

Salman kept the charge on before holing out to mid-off. Khawaja Nafay, promoted up the order, was deceived by Gerhard Erasmus and miscued a slog-sweep. Shadab Khan then walked in and found the going slow, but Farhan managed a string of boundaries. He flat-batted JJ Smit into the sightscreen and smashed one straight back as 200 came within sight.

Ruben Trumpelmann bowled a tight 19th over, keeping the ball wide. Farhan reached his hundred in the final over, and Shadab slammed Erasmus for two sixes as Pakistan ended on 199/3. Their unbeaten partnership was worth 81 runs.

In response, Namibia showed positive signs early. Louren Steenkamp smashed Saim Ayub for a couple of boundaries in the fourth over. Salman Mirza castled Jan Frylinck, who backed away exposing his stumps, and Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton was run out attempting a non-existent run.

Pakistan's spinners then took over, generating considerable turn. Mohammad Nawaz induced a mishit from Steenkamp (23), and Shadab Khan got extra bounce to have Gerhard Erasmus nicking behind. Alexander Volschenk hit a boundary and a six but was stumped off a sharp-turning delivery from Shadab.

Usman Tariq bowled a double-wicket maiden in the 14th over, removing JJ Smit with a carrom ball and cleaning up Trumpelmann with a googly. Shadab claimed a third wicket with Ayub taking a splendid catch in the deep. Tariq wrapped things up with two more wickets to finish with 4-16 as Namibia folded for 97 in 17.3 overs.

Brief Scores: Pakistan 199/3 in 20 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 100*, Salman Agha 38, Jack Brassell 2-48) beat Namibia 97 in 17.3 overs (Louren Steenkamp 23, Usman Tariq 4-16, Shadab Khan 3-19) by 102 runs.