T20 World Cup 2021: Match 31 – Pakistan vs Namibia Match Preview, Playing XI and broadcast details

This will be the two sides' maiden meeting in the format.

Published - 02 Nov 2021, 02:15 IST | Updated - 02 Nov 2021, 02:15 IST

4 Min Read

They would not have had the most settled buildup to their T20 World Cup campaign but come the imminent knockouts, few are looking as settled as Pakistan. A little over a month before the commencement of the mega-event, the Pakistan Cricket Board welcomed a new chairman, Ramiz Raja, whose appointment was followed by a slew of resignations, including those of the PCB CEO Wasim Khan and coaches Misbah-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis.

If you thought off-field ruckus was the end of their issues, it couldn’t be. After all, Pakistan and chaos are old pals. For no mistake of their own, they saw one series after another vanishing in the wind. Inclement weather jeopardized their tour in the Caribbean, where three of the four scheduled T20Is ended in washouts, while New Zealand’s last-minute pull-out citing a security threat and ECB’s controversial cancellation of their tour robbed from Pakistan a chance to prepare for the event they are now conquering with flamboyance.

Placed in the easier of the two groups, Pakistan decimated arch-rivals India to make the grandest possible start to their campaign. Then came the New Zealand revenge their new chairman had his eyes on ever since the fateful day of the series cancellation. And the hat-trick was made against another one of their Asia rivals Afghanistan. With three of their challenging fixtures inside the bag, and two left being against associates Namibia and Scotland, Pakistan have put themselves in the pole position to reach the semi-finals unscathed.

The victory against India was lopsided to the extent that no department of the team was put to test, but against New Zealand and Afghanistan, Pakistan emerged on the right side of the result defying odds. While the trust of the team in their top-order, having Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam, was always unshakable, the biggest concern was the brittle middle-order. But it is exactly this column of their batting that stood up and delivered promisingly in the previous encounters, special thanks to Shoaib Malik’s composure and Asif Ali’s gifted death-over-hitting.

With the ball, both Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf have already conjured a match-winning performance each, with Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim chipping along. Worries, then, only remain to the end of Hasan Ali, who has looked out of sorts thus far. But in a bag full of positives, his off-colour show would certainly not need the pressing of panic buttons.

They come up against Namibia on November 2, a team that has scripted a story it can already be proud of. Making their maiden appearance in the tournament after a historic qualification, Namibia have also confirmed their berth for the next global event in Australia next year.

They halted Scotland’s winning run in a dominating style but were unable to put up much fight against Afghanistan, losing by 62 runs. In a tournament where they have nothing to lose and everything to gain, and with none expecting them to win and qualify further, even one upset would be a significant achievement. Even if not, theirs has already been one inspirational rise.

Pitch and conditions

The result of the contests is being decided with the flip of a coin – as preposterous as it may sound, it is hard to not make that statement when the statistics are so ridiculously skewed: 13 of the 17 Super12s fixtures have been won by chasers. In Abu Dhabi, the record reads 3-1. Given how major a role dew has played in the tournament so far, expect no change in the trend.

Playing combination for PAK vs NAM

Pakistan

Do not fix what’s not broken, but how about testing what else will not break? After three comprehensive victories, there is no good reason why Pakistan should even think of altering the combination. Having said that, there also won’t be a better chance for them to give the benchwarmers some game time before entering the decisive stage of the tournament.

Predicted XI: Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf

Namibia

David Wiese has easily been the most impressive for the Namibia team, followed by skipper Gerhard Erasmus. In Ruben Trumpelamann and Jan Frylinck, they have two quality left-arm seamers, who can prove lethal on the Abu Dhabi track. Leg-spinner Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton had an impressive outing against Afghanistan, picking 2/21.

Predicted XI: Craig Williams, Michael van Lingen, Zane Green (wk), Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Gerhard Erasmus (c), David Wiese, JJ Smit, Jan Frylinck, Pikky Ya France, Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard Scholtz