T20 World Cup: Pakistan spinners may pose questions for Super Eight rivals

It was a must-win game for the much-trolled Pakistan team against Namibia after the demoralising defeat to India on 15 February. The green shirts did well to ride on a mature century by opener Shahibzada Farhan and their spin trick on a slow surface at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo to make it a one-sided win against the minnows and take up the last Super Eight spot on offer.

The Super Eight stage, which begins on 21 February, is what many see as the business end of the tournament, though there have been several redeeming features in the performances of some of the associate countries.

Salman Ali Agha’s men will run into England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Group 2 of the Super Eight stage for a spot in the semi-finals. albeit with all three matches coming off in their familiar conditions in Colombo. Group 1, meanwhile, comprises defending champions and runners-up India and South Africa, respectively, along with the West Indies and Zimbabwe.

While Pakistan’s gameplan was the same as in their last match, with a four-pronged spin attack, the Namibia batters failed to cope with quality slow bowling in the shape of mystery spinner Usman Tariq, Shadab Khan, Mohammed Nawaz and Sami Ayub.  

The tall and lanky Tariq, who was surprisingly introduced as a last spin option, was quite a handful with his mix of carrom balls and the one that spun away to return his best figures of 3.3-1-16-4. Shadab Khan, the leg-spinning allrounder who looked off-colour against India, picked up three for 19 as they wrapped up the contest with 15 deliveries to go.

Earlier, Sahibzada rose to the occasion with a disciplined maiden T20 World Cup century, only the second Pakistan player to score a hundred in the history of the tournament after Ahmed Shehzad in 2014. The stocky opener reached the milestone off just 57 balls and finished unbeaten on 100 off 58 deliveries, an innings that blended patience, power and composure under pressure. Shehzad had scored his hundred against Bangladesh in Mirpur. 

The innings was far from straightforward. Farhan was on 30 off 27 balls at one stage, struggling to find fluency as Pakistan made a cautious start. He also suffered cramps and required medical attention in the middle of his innings but once he settled, he shifted  gears dramatically. He needed only 20 balls to move from his half-century to three figures, turning the match decisively in Pakistan's favour.

‘’It had to be a complete performance today,’’ said a relieved Agha, who made a welcome return to runs with a 38 at number three. While they were not really tested by the underdogs, there are still a few question marks about the Pakistan batting line-up as they summoned Shadab ahead of Babar Azam at number four, with the latter in dugout.

Now that they have lived to fight another day, Pakistan can be a potential contender from their group for the last four.