PAK VS NAM - 31st Match, Super 12 Group 2, ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2021

The Pakistan juggernaut rolls on. For a change, they batted first today, maybe inspired by the other tournament favourite, England winning yesterday doing the same. Babar also mentioned at the toss and after the game, as to how they wanted to test their batters as well. Well, it's all going according to plan for his team and they are now officially two steps away from title glory. They haven't changed their XI at all in these four games, and the last time they went for such a stretch with an unchanged XI, was in the 2009 T20 WC. Okay, Pakistan supporters, you have something to uplift your already high moods. Namibia will only get better with games like these. Let's hope they keep improving as an international side. Hope you enjoyed our coverage of today's T20 WC action. Do join us tomorrow for another double-header. Until then, this is Hari Sadanandan signing off on behalf of Sagar Chawla, Akshay Maanay, Raju Peethala and Siva. Cheers!

Babar Azam: It's really good, we're maintaining our winning momentum. We wanted to do things differently today, test our batting. Conditions were tough early on, they bowled well and we wanted to take the partnership deep. The way Hafeez batted and got into form, it was important for us as he is a key player. Hasan Ali was given the new ball as conditions were suitable. If you need to win tournaments, you need to be consistent across all departments. The fielding was a bit lax, there was dew, so that's an area to improve. Need to keep improving and irrespective of whom we face in the semifinal, we want to maintain the same intensity.

Gerhard Erasmus: We knew from the start that Pakistan have high quality players and are an in-form team. They have played like title-contenders to be fair. We talked about being better for longer periods. I thought that after 11 overs, they were excellent in their shot selection. Their quality shone through in the end. Doesn't get easier after this, New Zealand are a quality side too. Hope we can take lessons from this and compete better. It's a great exposure for our players. Shows that more exposure you get, more comfortable you will be at this level. We haven't played a lot at this level. The finger is getting better.

Mohammad Rizwan | Player of the Match: It was difficult to bat initially and conditions proved to be very tricky for both of us (Me and Babar). Even when we tried to play normal shots or big hits, it just didn't work out and then we decided to take it deep and attack at the end. But that said, I want to give the credit to the (Namibia) bowlers because they kept bowling in the same area at the start and bowled really well. Hafeez's innings gave us the momentum and he kept telling me to stay patient and in the last over I decided to go hard and got some useful runs. We are gelling well as a team and have ticked all the boxes and will see what lies ahead for us.

21:40 Local Time, 17:40 GMT, 23:10 IST: The result was always inevitable, especially once Pakistan got to 189. They were well above-par for this surface and with Namibia's inexperience, those were too many runs on the board. Kudos to Erasmus' men though, they didn't fold up easily and not only batted out the 20 overs, but also showed sparks of promise. Baard looked impressive, Williams got going while their main star Wiese also cracked a few blows. Neither of them were obviously going to impact the outcome in anyway but they at least ensured that they put up a fight. For Pakistan, the experiment of bowling under dewy conditions worked out well. Conditions did ease out in the second half, but they were too good for their rookie opponents. Babar might have maybe wanted his bowlers to give 10-15 runs lesser but it's still a clinical win.

Shaheen Afridi to Wiese, no run, slower ball, on a good length and Wiese is way early on the slog. Misses, and though Rizwan fumbles, the batters don't cross. Pakistan qualify for the semifinals!

Shaheen Afridi to Wiese, 2 runs, full toss, slugged away without timing, into the open spaces and they get a brace

Shaheen Afridi to Wiese, no run, good rapid short ball, hustles Wiese on the pull and he is beaten totally for pace. The Free Hit doesn't cost Pakistan, not that it mattered

Shaheen Afridi to Wiese, no ball, FOUR, hammered! Slower and shorter, leg-lined and Wiese pulls it very fine down the leg-side. RIght in the gap and it races away to the fence. Afridi kicks the ground in frustration, it's also a big front-foot no ball

Shaheen Afridi to Wiese, SIX, that's a massive blow! The bat change certainly works for Wiese. Shuffles across just a tad, got it in his arc and sends it over deep square leg with a powerful slog. It's gone way over the fence

Seems like Wiese's bat handle is damaged, he wants a bat change, and gets it.

Shaheen Afridi to Wiese, 2 runs, slow low full toss, Wiese miscues the loft completely but it lands well short of the forward-charging long-off fielder. They race back for the second, as Wiese wants the strike

Shaheen Afridi to Loftie-Eaton, 1 run, much fuller and outside off, carved away uppishly to the left of third man. Loftie-Eaton fancied the second but Wiese was never interested

Shaheen Afridi [3.0-0-20-0] is back into the attack

Haris Rauf to Loftie-Eaton, 1 run, charges down early, Rauf follows him with a yorker length, dug out towards mid-off and they pinch one

Haris Rauf to Loftie-Eaton, 2 runs, very full and around off, Loftie-Eaton makes room and slices it away behind point. TIght second run but he races back just in time, as the throw comes into the keeper's end

Haris Rauf to Wiese, leg byes, 1 run, fullish in-angler, leg-lined, Wiese tries the pick-up shot but can't connect. Deflects off the pads, towards point

Haris Rauf to Wiese, 2 runs, slower and shorter, Wiese waits and pulls hard, towards cow corner. They run the first one hard, and then take the bonus run off the misfield

Ankit: The most imp thing is that Pakistan are just trying to continue the game and wait for opponent to make mistakes. They are just maximising on those mistakes. and winning games

Haris Rauf to Wiese, no run, slower ball, on a good length this time, Wiese heaves, misses

Haris Rauf to Wiese, SIX, just about clears the ropes! Long-on tried desperately to get across, maybe even got his hands on it but was always going to be going past the ropes with the momentum. Slower yorker gone wrong, in the slot and Wiese goes straight with the loft. Didn't middle it that well, just got enough though to get the maximum