In the 42nd match of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, India beat Namibia by nine wickets in the final game of Super 12. The hosts couldn’t qualify for the semi-finals as they failed to acquire one of the top two spots in the points table.
Virat Kohli won the toss and chose to field against Namibia. The visitors were off to a decent start until the Indian bowlers pocketed two wickets within the powerplay. Kohli’s bowlers pocketed wickets at regular intervals and restricted Namibia to a below-par total of 132 at the loss of eight wickets. The in-form Indian openers were off to an emphatic start with the bat in the powerplay. Rohit Sharma decided to take on the Namibia bowlers and smashed them in all parts of the ground. The Indian vice-captain and KL Rahul gathered 54 runs in the powerplay, the former was the major contributor in the partnership. The ongoing partnership was broken by Jan Frylinck who got rid of Rohit in the 10th over of the match. The openers gathered 86 runs within 10 overs, which set the momentum for the chase. Rohit’s dismissal didn’t bother Rahul as he kept the scoreboard ticking. The 52-run partnership between Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav helped India to get over the finish line with 28 balls to spare.
Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin pocketed three wickets each, while Jasprit Bumrah grabbed two wickets. For Namibia, Frylinck was the solitary wicket-taker.
With this victory, India concluded their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup campaign on a positive note after failing to advance into the knockout stages. Jadeja was adjudged Man of the Match for his economical bowling spell of 3/16.