All-round India crush Namibia to register biggest win in T20 WCs

Ishan Kishan's explosive 61 and a fine all-round show from Hardik Pandya (52 & 2-20) helped India make it two in two with a comprehensive 93-run victory - their biggest in T20 World Cups (by runs) - over Namibia in Delhi on Thursday (February 12). The two half-century knocks helped India cover the late stutter to post a formidable 209 for 9 after being asked to bat first. Namibia made a bright start to their reply but fell apart just as quickly against spin in the middle-overs to also hand India a significant NRR boost.

India's new opening pair of Kishan and Sanju Samson signalled their intent immediately, with Samson smashing three sixes and a boundary more in a whirlwind 22 off just eight balls before falling to Ben Shikongo in the second over. His departure did nothing to slow the momentum as Kishan unleashed a brutal assault on the Namibian attack. Kishan reached his half-century in just 20 deliveries, a knock highlighted by four consecutive sixes against JJ Smit in the final over of the PowerPlay.

By the end of their first-six, India had raced to 86 for 1. The fastest team century in Men's T20 World Cup history followed shortly after, in the seventh over as Kishan kept finding boundaries at will.

The middle overs saw Namibia claw their way back into the contest. Gerhard Erasmus dismissed the dangerous Kishan for 61 off 24 ball with his very first delivery, while Bernard Scholtz accounted for Suryakumar Yadav, who was stumped for 12. When Erasmus also removed Tilak Varma for 25, India had slipped from 104 for 1 to 124 for 4.

However, Pandya and Shivam Dube steadied the ship with an 81-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Pandya was particularly aggressive, striking four sixes and four boundaries to reach 52 off 28 balls, while Dube contributed a solid 23, including a massive 107-metre six.

Just when India seemed set for 230+, the final two overs saw a dramatic shift as Namibia regained control through disciplined death bowling. Erasmus turned the tide in the 19th over, dismissing Pandya and bowling Axar Patel for a golden duck, while Dube was run out during the same chaotic period. Smit closed out the innings by removing Rinku Singh and executing a run-out of Arshdeep Singh on the final ball. Despite losing five wickets for just 10 runs in the closing stages, India's early explosive power ensured a competitive target of 210 in which Erasmus stood out with figures of 4 for 20.

The start to the chase was promising but Namibia too unravelled against spin, slipping form 67 for 1 to 94 for 6 in the space of 32 deliveries - with all five wickets falling to Chakaravarthy and Axar.

After facing a quiet first over from Pandya, Jan Frylinck picked up a four and six off him in his next before hitting Arshdeep Singh for back-to-back boundaries. The Indian, however, had the last laugh, getting the dangerous-looking batter to miscue a clever slower one after contributing a 15-ball 22. His opening partner, Louren Steenkamp, made Arshdeep pay with a 17-run final PowerPlay over - two fours and a six included.

Chakaravarthy arrived on the other side of the PowerPlay and struck with his very first ball, castling Steenkamp on 29. Erasmus dished out some early punishment for Axar with a couple of maximums, before eventually holing out to long-off off the spinner in his following over. In the meanwhile, Namibia lost two more key wickets - to Chakaravarthy. Loftie-Eaton holed out to long-off and Smit was cleaned up with another googly.

Bumrah's sharp catch off Malan Kruger, which he initially misjudged and over ran, gave Axar his second. The two spinners combined to take 5 for 27 in this phase, sucking all the momentum out and leaving little to the imagination as far as the result was concerned. The pacers then returned at death to clean up the tail. Ruben Trumpelmann fell to a perfect Jasprit Bumrah yorker. Max Heingo denied Pandya a hat-trick after he'd removed Bernard Scholtz and Ben Shikongo in consecutive deliveries of his final over - finishing with an impressive 2 for 21. Eventually, Dube too got on the board when Zane Green tried to reverse and disturbed his own stumps with the bat.

Namibia folded for 116, conceding a massive 93-run victory to India. For the hosts, each of the six bowlers deployed picked up a wicket at least with Chakravarthy (2-0-7-3) leading the charge.

Brief scores: India 209/9 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 61, Hardik Pandya 52; Gerhard Erasmus 4-20) beat Namibia 116 all out in 18.2 overs (Louren Steenkamp 29, Jan Frylinck 22; Varun Chakaravarthy 3-7, Hardik Pandya 2-21, Axar Patel 2-20) by 93 runs