Live Cricket Score | Afghanistan vs Namibia Live Score & Commentary | AFG vs NAM Scorecard, ICC Men's T20 World Cup

27th T20I • Sheikh Zayed Stadium • Abu Dhabi

Afghanistan

160/5 (20)

Namibia

98/9 (20)

AFG won by 62 runs

Info

Fantasy

Live

Scorecard

Playing XI

Player of the Match Naveen ul Haq

3/26

AFG s

NAM s

Info

Afghanistan s

160/5 (20)

Batters

Hazratullah Zazai

122.22

c M Lingen b Jonathan Smit

Mohammad Shahzad

136.36

c Bernard Scholtz b R Trumpelmann

Rahmanullah Gurbaz

50.00

lbw b JNL Eaton

Asghar Afghan

134.78

c M Lingen b R Trumpelmann

Najibullah Zadran

63.64

lbw b JNL Eaton

Mohammad Nabi

(C)

188.24

Not out

Gulbadin Naib

100.00

Not out

Extras

(B: 0, LB: 1, NB: 0, W: 6)

TOTAL

(20 Ov, RR: 8)

160/5

Did not Bat

Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Naveen ul Haq, Hamid Hassan

Bowlers

EXT

8.50

7.33

8.25

11.33

Jan Nicol Loftie Eaton

5.25

Bernard Scholtz

8.00

Gerhard Erasmus

7.00

Fall Of Wickets

SCORE

OVER

Hazratullah Zazai

c M Lingen b Jonathan Smit

1-53

6.4

Rahmanullah Gurbaz

lbw b JNL Eaton

2-68

9.5

Mohammad Shahzad

c Bernard Scholtz b R Trumpelmann

3-89

12.4

Najibullah Zadran

lbw b JNL Eaton

4-113

15.4

Asghar Afghan

c M Lingen b R Trumpelmann

5-148

18.6

Namibia s

98/9 (20)

Batters

Craig Williams

33.33

c (sub U Ghani) b N Haq

Michael van Lingen

137.50

c H Hassan b N Haq

Jan Nicol Loftie Eaton

87.50

b G Naib

Gerhard Erasmus

(C)

85.71

b H Hassan

Zane Green

14.29

b R Khan

David Wiese

86.67

b H Hassan

Jonathan Smit

0.00

c M Mohammadi b H Hassan

Jan Frylinck

42.86

c M Nabi b N Haq

Pikky Ya France

60.00

c & b G Naib

Ruben Trumpelmann *

133.33

Not out

Bernard Scholtz

54.55

Not out

Extras

(B: 0, LB: 2, NB: 0, W: 4)

TOTAL

(20 Ov, RR: 4.9)

98/9

Bowlers

EXT

6.50

8.50

2.25

4.75

5.50

3.50

Fall Of Wickets

SCORE

OVER

Craig Williams

c (sub U Ghani) b N Haq

1-2

0.4

Michael van Lingen

c H Hassan b N Haq

2-16

2.4

Jan Nicol Loftie Eaton

b G Naib

3-29

5.2

Zane Green

b R Khan

4-36

7.1

Gerhard Erasmus

b H Hassan

5-56

10.3

Jonathan Smit

c M Mohammadi b H Hassan

6-56

10.6

Jan Frylinck

c M Nabi b N Haq

7-69

14.5

Pikky Ya France

c & b G Naib

8-77

15.6

David Wiese

b H Hassan

9-80

16.5

Match Info

Date & Time

31 Oct, 03:30 PM IST

Venue

Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Match

27th T20I,

ICC Men's T20 World Cup

Umpires

Chris Gaffaney (New Zealand), Ahsan Raza (Pakistan), Paul Reiffel (Australia, TV)

Referee

Javagal Srinath (India)

Toss

Afghanistan elected to bat

Player of the Match Naveen ul Haq

3/26

Commentary

That is all that was written for this contest with Afghanistan putting in yet another dominant show. The World Cup continues though with a blockbuster encounter lined up between India and New Zealand at the Dubai International Stadium. That game is set to begin in just over five minutes' time from now with New Zealand opting to bowl first upon winning the toss. Do switch tabs and follow the coverage of that high-stakes encounter right here on Sportskeeda. Thank you so much for tuning into our coverage of this game as we hope you enjoyed it just as much as we did bringing it to you. On behalf of my good friend and fellow textpert Pradeep Somashekar, this is Sooryanarayanan Sesha once again humbly requesting you to mask up and get yourselves vaccinated in case you haven't already. Goodbye and take care!

An emotional day in Afghanistan cricket and it's fair to say that an era has come to a close with Asghar Afghan, the nation's first test captain and the joint-most successful skipper in men's T20 internationals, calling it a day. How heartwarming a moment was that with Naveen-ul-Haq handing his Player of the Match trophy to his former skipper on a day Asghar has played his final international game? It gives you an insight into the kind of respect Asghar has commanded over the years and how much his teammates adore him. Asghar can bow out with his head held high knowing that among the pantheon of big names in Afghanistan cricket history, his name will be right up there. The Afghanistan juggernaut rolls on though as they now sit second in the points table with a massive net run-rate as well. India and New Zealand will have to beware and their contest that is set to commence moments away has now been deemed all the more crucial for the two sides. As for Namibia, they have acknowledged the challenge that this stage poses to them and with the games not getting any easier, they will have to brush this under the carpet and come out with a lot of positive intent to see themselves pull off something spectacular.

Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan Captain): Thanks to Allah that we won our second game in the tournament. It's not a plan as such that we always want to bat first. We are mentally ready to chase as well and we have discussed it in the team meetings that we may have to chase as well. We always tell both the openers to go and play their game. We don't want them to change it midway. We want them to play the way they have in the last ten years. We've always depended on the spinners but we have good quality bowlers among the seamers as well. Hamid bowled brilliantly today. Last night Asghar told me that this would be his last game. I was shocked since it was in between the tournament but it's his decision. He has served Afghanistan for 16 years and has captained for 6-7 games. He was a brilliant captain who has won a lot of games for Afghanistan. (Did he try convincing Asghar to stay on?) No I didn't since he already decided that he won't be playing anymore.

Gerhard Erasmus (Namibia Captain): We knew it was going to be a level up from the previous games. The bowling attack they have is a top one and we weren't good enough on the day. The grass was taken off at Abu Dhabi for the first time, I don't know why though. We didn't stay there long enough and lost wickets at crucial times. We just left too much to be done with the bat. On this wicket with the bigger dimensions they got away in the Powerplay. I think for 160, you have got to bat exceptionally well on this wicket which we tried to do but couldn't. Theirs is a quality attack - even with Mujeeb not playing they had backup seamers in the reserves. They did really well. We know that the challenge is getting bigger and I think we deserve to be at this stage. We need to get used to this level and it's a huge stepping stone for us.

With the kind of bowling attack at their disposal, Afghanistan were bound to make life difficult for the Namibians, even without Mujeeb ur Rahman's services. And how good a stifle was that on the bowlers' part to sew up yet another thumping victory.

The run chase got off to the worst possible start from a Namibian perspective as Naveen-ul-Haq wreaked havoc up front with a couple of wickets, sending both Craig Williams and Michael van Lingen back to the dugout within the first three overs. While Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton was sent up the order and showed great intent as well, he was undone by a well-disguised slower delivery by Gulbadin Naib, to leave Namibia in tatters at 29/3 at the end of the Powerplay.

Rashid Khan then came on and struck first ball to extend Zane Green's lean patch and it was down to David Wiese and skipper Gerhard Erasmus to script another turnaround. With Wiese struggling to get going and Erasmus falling soon though, the writing was on the wall for Namibia and everything that followed was a mere formality.

Wickets kept falling at regular intervals with the slower ones of Gulbadin and the fast, searing yorkers of Hamid Hassan taking every little ounce of wind out of the Namibian sails. The asking rate soared to an insurmountable extent and eventually, the best Namibia could do was bat out the 20 overs without getting bundled out, as Afghanistan soared to a massive victory yet again.

Hamid Hassan was the standout bowler with figures of 3/9 off his 4 overs, while Naveen-ul-Haq too picked up three of his own. Naveen was the wrecker-in-chief in the Powerplay as he broke the back of the Namibian batting lineup and was well backed up by Gulbadin Naib who picked up a couple of wickets. And of course, what is a game involving Afghanistan without Rashid Khan picking up a wicket and giving nothing way? Yet another day in the office for the superstar spinner as Afghanistan pocketed two valuable points to move to the second position in their group.

Naveen-ul-Haq has been adjudged the Man of the Match but he decides to award it to Asgar Afghan who's playing his last game!

Naveen at the presentation says, I have decided, I want to dedicate this Man of the Match award to Asgar as I've made my debut under his captaincy, I have played my whole life under his captaincy.

Asgar Afghan says, it was very important for us to win the game. Naveen once again showed his talent today, he's famous with his variations and his skills in T20 is enormous for Afghanistan.

Then Naveen says, I was having the new ball for the first time in the tournament, I was watching the first inning very closely in the, was looking at the wicket, got the idea that mixing it up is the way to go. It is very special to play in front of the Afghan fans, thanks to each and everyone for coming and support us in huge numbers. He's the best captain Afghanistan has ever produced, under his captaincy I have learned a lot of things, I have huge respect to him and will miss him a lot.

Asgar Afghan with his final words, thanks his fans for supporting him and Afghanistan throughout the course of his career and asks them keep them in their prayers for the rest of the tournament.

There you go! As simple as that for Afghanistan. An emotional moment for Asghar Afghan as he bows out on a high in international cricket. Everybody congratulates him and embraces him with Gulbadin Naib carrying him on his shoulders. These are great signs of acknowledging a great man for his services to the country's rise in international cricket. And he gets a fitting farewell with his side completing a comprehensive victory today. Afghanistan beat Namibia by 62 runs!

overs

98 /9 score

runs

Ruben Trumpelmann *

12 (9)

Bernard Scholtz

6 (11)

Karim Janat

0 /11

19.6 Karim Janat to Ruben Trumpelmann, THAT'S IT! Afghanistan get their two points from this game, full delivery tails into Trumpelmann on the leg-stump as he whacks that one away but the deep mid-wicket fielder stops it and they get only single as Afghanistan finish the annihilation!

19.5 Karim Janat to Bernard Scholtz, another slower one, short on the outside off as Scholtz on the backfoot waits and then cuts it past the covers for a single. Final ball coming up!

19.4 Karim Janat to Bernard Scholtz, good change of pace lengths from Janat this, short this time, dug into the track and goes well over Scholtz who looks to cut that one away but misses.

Trumpelmann takes the single on this occasion.

19.3 Karim Janat to Ruben Trumpelmann, full and straight on the off-stump as Trumpelmann sits deep inside the crease and drills it down to long-on region for a single.

19.2 Karim Janat to Bernard Scholtz, full delivery tails into Scholtz on the leg-stump as he makes room and whips it down to long-on region for a single.

19.1 Karim Janat to Bernard Scholtz, back of a length on the off-stump as Scholtz on the backfoot has a hoick but hits it straight to the point fielder.

Karim Janat is back into the attack and will bowl the final over of the game. He will bowl over the wicket.

Trumpelmann has been looking to farm the strike and shield Bernard Scholtz but alas, he wasn't able to connect off the final delivery. The last over is coming up - six deliveries for Afghanistan to try and bowl Namibia out.

Namibia need 67 runs to win off the final over!

overs

94 /9 score

runs

Ruben Trumpelmann *

10 (7)

Bernard Scholtz

4 (7)

Naveen-ul-Haq

3 /26

18.6 Naveen-Ul-Haq to Ruben Trumpelmann, back of a length on the outside off as Trumpelmann on the backfoot has an almighty swing at it but misses, that kept a tad low as well.

18.5 Naveen-Ul-Haq to Ruben Trumpelmann, back of the hand slower delivery, short on the off-stump as Trumpelmann waits for it on the backfoot and pulls it over square-leg region before refusing a run yet again.

18.4 Naveen-Ul-Haq to Ruben Trumpelmann, takes the pace off, short on the wide of off-stump as Trumpelmann on the backfoot slaps it down to long-off region as he farms the strike.