Hardik Pandya shone with bat and ball and helped India win easily in the end. Hardik Pandya was the show stopper for India as he came in in the second half of the chase and dominated with the bat. Put into bat first, India rode on swashbuckling innings from Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya both scoring great fifties while Sanju Samson scored 22 off 8 balls and others scored while Gerhard Erasmus picked up 4/20 in 4 overs for Namibia as India posted 209/9 in 20 overs.
In the second innings, India bowled really well post the powerplay overs. Varun Chakaravarthy did the star turn and picked up 3 wickets for 7 runs in 2 overs. Hardik Pandya chipped in with 2/21 in 4 overs. Jasprit Bumrah picked up a wicket as Namibia’s innings caved in towards the end post powerplay and were eventually bowled out for 116 in the 19th over as India won the contest by 93 runs to go top of Group A.
Fifties from Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya helps India post 209/9.Â
Put into bat first, Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson opened the batting for India while Ruben Trumpelmann had ball in hand for Namibia. Sanju came out all guns blazing hitting 3 sixes and one boundary inside the first two overs but it was one shot too many for him. The first partnership was worth 25 in 2 overs in which Sanju Samson scored 22 off 8 balls with one four and three sixes to his name before he fell to Ben Shikongo. Tilak Varma came out to bat next.
Ishan Kishan started slowly but soon switched gears and blazed away inside the powerplay. He just murdered anyone who came in his way. Ishan completed his half-century in 20 balls as India were 86/1 in 6 overs. The 100 came up in 6.5 overs as well. Tilak hung in there and held one end up one can say. The duo put on 79 runs off 31 balls for the second wicket before Ishan fell for 61 off 24 balls with 6 fours and 5 sixes to his name to Gerhard Erasmus who struck on his first ball. Captain Suryakumar Yadav came out to bat next.
Suryakumar hit a maximum as Tilak stayed there for the time being. India were 120/2 in 10 overs at the halfway stage of the game. 16 runs were added by Surya and Tilak before Surya fell for 12 off 13 balls with one six to his name to Bernard Scholtz. Hardik Pandya came out to bat next. Another 4 runs were added to the score before Tilak fell for 25 off 21 balls with 3 fours to his name to Erasmus yet again. Shivam Dube came out to bat next.
Hardik and Shivam got themselves initially and then broke free. Hardik dominated the proceedings and showed his class while Dube played his part as well. Hardik Pandya showed what he is made of. He plundered the bowling as India reached 168/4 in 15 overs. They carried on batting and batted till the completion of 18 overs. The duo put on 81 runs for the 5th wicket before Pandya fell for 52 off 28 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes to his name to Erasmus yet again.
Rinku Singh came out to bat next as a collapse followed of the highest order from the Men in Blue. Dube fell next ball for a run out as a miscommunication between the two batters let both the batters be at the same end and he fell for 23 off 16 balls with one four and one six to his name. Axar Patel came out to bat next. Just one run was added to the score before Axar fell for a golden duck to Erasmus. Varun Chakaravarthy came out to bat next.
Another one bit the dust as Rinku now fell for 1 off 6 balls to JJ Smit. Arshdeep Singh came out to bat next. Varun got off the mark as well. 3 runs were added to the score before Arshdeep fell for 2 off 2 balls as he attempted a second run and was run out. Varun remained unbeaten on 1 off 1 ball. India went from 205/4 in 18.1 overs and collapsed to 209/9 in 20 overs losing 5 wickets for 4 runs in 11 balls. A dramatic collapse indeed. 10 extras given by the fielding side.
For Namibia, Gerhard Erasmus was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/20 in 4 overs. Ben Shikongo finished with 1/41 in 3 overs. JJ Smit finished with 1/50 in 4 overs. Bernard Scholtz finished with 1/41 in 4 overs. Ruben Trumplemann finished with 0/38 in 4 overs. Max Heingo finished with 0/18 in 1 over. This meant Namibia who did well to pull things back still needed a massive 210 runs to win off 20 overs.
All-Round Bowling led by Varun Chakaravarthy skittles Namibia out for 116 in 18.2 overs.Â
Chasing a massive 210 to pull off a monumental upset, Louren Steenkamp came out to open the batting with Jan Frylinck for Namibia while Hardik Pandya had ball in hand for India. Hardik started well with a quiet over. But Namibia got off to a solid start as the opening partnership posted 33 runs in 3.4 overs. Jan Frylinck was the first to depart as he fell for 22 off 15 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name to Arshdeep Singh as he was holed out in the deep.
Nicol Loftie-Eaton came out to bat next. Steenkamp and Loftie-Eaton decided to forge a partnership and at the end of the powerplay, Namibia were 57/1 in 6 overs. The duo put on 34 runs for the second wicket before Steenkamp fell for 29 off 20 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name as the introduction of Varun Chakaravarthy did wonders for India. He made the breakthrough. Gerhard Erasmus the captain came out to bat next.
Erasmus played some good lusty blows over the fence as well. Erasmus and Loftie-Eaton put on 19 runs for the third wicket before Eaton fell for 13 off 13 balls with one four to his name to Varun Chakaravarthy. Varun had two in the over as he dismissed JJ Smit for a silver duck cleaning him up. Zane Green came out to bat next as well as Namibia had slipped to 88/4 in 10 overs.
Another one bit the dust as the big one Gerhard Erasmus fell for 18 off 11 balls with 2 sixes to his name to Axar Patel. Malan Kruger came out to bat next with the score at 88/5 in 10.1 overs. Just 6 runs were added to the tally before Kruger fell for 5 off 10 balls with one four to his name to Axar Patel once again. Ruben Trumpelmann came out to bat next as the innings was in for a free fall.
The duo of Green and Trumpelmann added 17 runs for the 7th wicket before Ruben fell for 6 off 16 balls as he was cleaned up by Bumrah. Bernard Scholtz came out to bat next. Just 5 runs were added to the tally before Scholtz fell for 4 off 4 balls with one boundary to his name to Hardik Pandya. Ben Shikongo came out to bat next and was pinged in front LBW by Pandya for a golden duck as Pandya had two wickets in two balls and was on a hat-trick. Max Heingo came out to bat next and survived the hat-trick ball.
Green was the last man to depart as he fell for 11 off 19 balls by going for an innovative shot and getting hit wicket as well. Heingo remained unbeaten on 0 off 2 balls as Namibia collapsed and fell for 116 in 18.2 overs. 8 extras given by the fielding side.
Indian bowlers bowled decently out there. Varun Chakaravarthy turned things around as he finished with 3/7 in 2 overs. Hardik Pandya finished with 2/21 in 4 overs. Axar Patel finished with 2/20 in 3 overs. Shivam Dube finished with 1/11 in 2.2 overs. Arshdeep Singh went for 36 runs and picked up one wicket. Shivam Dube finished with 1/11 in 2.2 overs. Jasprit Bumrah finished with 1/20 in 4 overs. So, in the end India wins this one easily thrashing Namibia by 93 runs. Hardik Pandya for his all-round show was awarded the Player of the Match.
What Lies Ahead
India with this 93-run win climbed to the top of the points table of Group A ahead of Pakistan ahead of Net Run Rate. Next-up for India is the big game on Super Sunday in Colombo against Pakistan. Namibia will next face USA also on Sunday in Chennai. More action coming your way on Friday. First-up it will be Australia taking on Zimbabwe at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo at 11 AM IST in Group B clash. Then we go to New Delhi for Canada vs UAE at 3 PM IST in a Group D clash. In the evening, it will be USA vs Netherlands live from Chennai in a Group A clash from 7 PM IST.
So, another action-packed day in progress in ICC T20 WC 2026.
Also Read:Â ICC T20 WC 2026: Namibia Gets Off To Strong Start In Chase.