Abu Dhabi: After suffering a defeat in a close game last time, Afghanistan bounced back in style registering a 62 run victory over Namibia in Super 12, Group 2 in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Chasing 161, Namibia’s batting line-up collapsed being unable to withstand a formidable Afghan bowling unit losing three wickets inside the powerplay. Skipper Gerhard Erasmus(12) on whom Namibia had the biggest hope failed to live up to expectations. David Wisse(26) was the only man to get into his 20’s. For Afghanistan, seamer Hamid Hassan(3/9) and Naveen-Ul-Haq(3/23) was the star of the show.
Earlier, the Afghans had a good start to their innings as the opening duo of Mohammad Shahzad(45) and Hazratullah Zazai(33) added 53 in quick times before the latter fell to JJ Smits. Shahzad too got dismissed after being well set for a big knock. However, veteran Ashghar Afghan in his last game for his country added a handy 23 ball 31 to give cushion to the innings before skipper Mohammad Nabi hammered an unbeaten 17 ball 32 towards the end to get the total to 160.
Brief Scores: Afghanistan 160/5 in 20 overs(Mohammad Shahzad 45, Hazratullah Zazai 33; Jan Nicol loftie Eaton 2/21) best Namibia 98/9 in 20 overs( David Wise 26, Jan Nicol loftie Eaton 14; Hamid Hassan 3/9; Naveen – Ul – Haq 3/23) by 62 runs.
