Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan celebrates after scoring a century.
Photo: ISHARA S. KODIKARA / AFP
Pakistan became the final team to qualify for the Super Eight of the Twenty20 World Cup after Sahibzada Farhan’s maiden international century powered them to a thumping 102-run victory over Namibia in Colombo.
Farhan remained unbeaten on exactly 100 off 58 balls, reaching his landmark in the final over as Pakistan posted 199 in their must-win Group A encounter at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground.
Despite a slow start, the opener’s explosive knock featured 11 boundaries and four sixes, with skipper Salman Agha contributing a useful 38 and Shadab Khan adding an unbeaten 36 that included two sixes in the final over of the innings.
Namibia’s chase never gained momentum despite a promising start from opener Louren Steenkamp, who raced to 23 before the African side began losing wickets at regular intervals.
Pakistan join the Super Eight group containing England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
The other group contains India, Zimbabwe, West Indies and South Africa.
The top two teams from each Super Eight group qualify for the semi-finals.
India beat the Netherlands by 17 runs in their final group game, while South Africa beat the UAE by 6 wickets.
All teams in the Super Eight have also secured automatic qualification for the next edition of the tournament in Australia and New Zealand in 2028.
New Zealand’s Super Eight schedule:
Sun 22 Feb: 2:30am NZ v Pakistan, Colombo
Thurs 26 Feb: 2:30am NZ v Sri Lanka, Colombo
Sat 1 March: 2:30am NZ v England, Colombo
– Reuters, with additional reporting from RNZ