Ben Shikongo watched the ball, perhaps cursing his luck, as Hardik Pandya gave him a quick pat on the back while crossing over. The Namibia pacer's wide yorker had just been sliced for a four behind point to wrap up the 16-run 16th over. Until halfway through that over, Shikongo embodied perfection. The small-framed pacer stood up to one of the fiercest finishers in the game, not allowing him to get under yorker length deliveries on the off-stump. He also went wide against Shivam Dube and nullified any options of a big hit.

But Pandya, with all his T20 calculations and muscle, prevailed. The first yorker Shikongo missed went for a straight six and the next full ball went for a four. Mistakes, however miniscule, were punished in a phase that India have taken pride in smashing at more than 10 an over in this World Cup cycle. That last four, and the pat, said everything about Namibia's harrowing night.

At different stages, Namibia played like the class divide between their 'Associateness' and India's Full Member muscle didn't exist on the field. They went at Ishan Kishan with a wide line outside off stump at the start of the PowerPlay, probing the zone the India opener has consciously tried to expand.

That said, Kishan still carried a bit of vulnerability there, which USA recently exploited. Shortly after, they switched it around, posting both deep fielders on the leg side, and bowling straight in search of a miscue. Against a batter of his current touch, that backfired and India exited the PowerPlay with 86/1. Five deliveries later, India had the fastest team hundred in T20 World Cup history.

Over the last two years, India have dismantled plans and attacks in the PowerPlay with frightening consistency, and maintained the devastation through the next two phases. Namibia at this point risked going off course entirely if they let the weight of the scorecard and the partisan crowd get to them. Even some of the best oppositions have slipped into that bottomless valley.

But a refreshing push back ensued through Erasmus's off-spin and Bernard Scholtz's left-arm spin as they bowled six overs through the middle for 30 runs and three wickets. Spin in the middle-overs has held back Tilak Varma since the start of 2025 (a strike rate of 115.22), and it happened again. He scored five off 10 against the two spinners before misjudging an Erasmus delivery released from well behind the crease, nearly 24-25 yards away - a trademark variation.

India still rocked up at the death overs, capable of burying Namibia under a mountain of runs. And Namibia, after everything that had happened, showed they could still counter-punch in one of the most fragile phases of play for bowlers. Ruben Trumplemann and JJ Smit sent down wide yorkers to stifle two of India's death hitters - Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube, and Erasmus bowled a tough over to return with two wickets and a run-out. India added just 25 runs off the last 18 balls, to finish with 209/9.

Namibia's fight spilled over to the chase and they kept pace with what was needed all through the PowerPlay, and in a Jasprit Bumrah over beyond. But Varun CV came armed with variations, the rare instinct to start with a googly, and the kind of spin wizardry Namibia batters hadn't faced before. The damage across his first two overs set Namibia back, hitting them with the sobering arrival of the inevitable.

"I think just the spell of Varun... it's a skill that we don't naturally see in our level of cricket [mystery bowling]. Yes, there's leg spin, googly... every now and again that you face and people have become accustomed to that, but it's only in a few countries that they have guys bowling googlies and doosras," Erasmus said. "I don't think there's anyone in Associate cricket that bowls it. There's probably Sher Malla (Nepal's 23-year-old mystery spinner), who is the closest guy and the newest guy on our level. Honestly, I have to say that, that was the game-breaker right there."

"I think he [Varun] had three for five at one stage. So for us, that's another learning, it's another one to take forward for the next World Cups, for next games against big nations. It's about how quickly the game evolves and how you can prepare for guys like that, because you can do as much as you want in front of computers and watching footage and talking about how you're going to play him," he added.

One of Erasmus's biggest concerns heading to Thursday was that the glare of a World Cup night against India in India might be too bright for his boys. But they stared straight at it, never looking away in fear of being blinded by the luminance. Yet the scorecard spoke a different tongue. It was a night where Namibia were good and worth that pat, but still not nearly good enough.