Pakistan won by 102 runs against Namibia on Wednesday in their Group A match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, with the Green Shirts qualifying for the Super Eights.
After winning the toss, Pakistan elected to bat first against Namibia and set a target of 200 runs.
Opening batter Sahibzada Farhan struck a brilliant century, reaching the milestone off 57 balls with four sixes and 11 fours, becoming the second Pakistani batter to score a century in the T20 World Cup after Ahmed Shehzad.
Ahmed Shehzad scored a century against Bangladesh in the 2014 T20 World Cup.
Pakistan lost their first wicket at 40 when Saim Ayub was dismissed for 14 runs. Captain Salman Agha scored 38 runs while Khawaja Nafee made five before returning to the pavilion.
Two changes were made to the Pakistan side for the match at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo.
Fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi and spinner Abrar Ahmed were replaced by Khawaja Nafi and Salman Mirza.
Namibia needed 200 runs to secure a win but got all out on 97 runs in 18 overs.
Namibia’s Lorraine Steenkamp and Jan Frylinck opened with 32 runs, but Jan Frylinck, on nine runs, was bowled clean by Salman Mirza.
Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton could not stay at the wicket for long and was run out after scoring five runs.
Namibia suffered its third loss at 43 runs when Captain Gerhard Erasmus was caught by wicketkeeper Usman Khan off Shadab Khan after scoring just seven runs, while opener Lorraine Steenkamp also returned to the pavilion off Muhammad Nawaz for 23 runs.
Pakistani bowler Usman Tariq took 4 wickets, and Shadab Khan took 3 wickets, while Mohammed Nawaz and Salman Mirza took one each.
With this victory, the teams of Pakistan and India from Group A reached the Super eight. Pakistan will play matches against New Zealand, England and Sri Lanka in the Super Eight stage. Pakistan’s match against New Zealand will be on 21 Feb, England on 24 Feb and Sri Lanka on 28 Feb.