T20 World Cup 2021: India tames Namibia by 9 wickets, ends tournament on a high with consolation win

Former champion India could not seal a spot in the semis of the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup. However, it finished the tournament on a high, earning a consolation win over minnow Namibia by nine wickets in the Group 2 Super 12 clash at the Dubai International Stadium on Monday.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli won the toss in his final T20I as captain. He opted to chase, besides making a change by bringing in spinner Rahul Chahar for fellow spinner Varun Chakravarthy. As for the Namibian captain, Gerhard Erasmus, too, made a change and brought Jan Frylinck. Namibia lost Michael van Lingen (14) and Craig Williams (0) within the sixth over of the Powerplay, with 34 runs on the board, followed by fellow opener Stephan Baard (21), who was trapped leg-before to spinner Ravindra Jadeja in the eighth, five runs later.

LIVE SCORECARD: ICC T20 World Cup 2021 - India vs Namibia (Group 2, Super 12)

Namibia could hardly get the partnerships going, as at 47, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton (5) was dismissed by off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in the tenth, while 26 runs later, Erasmus (12) fell to the same man in the 13th. Although David Wiese (26) looked to fire, he failed to get support from the other end, as by 93, JJ Smit (9) and Zane Green (0) departed to Jadeja and Ashwin, respectively, by the 16th over.

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After 23 runs more, pacer Jasprit Bumrah got rid of Wiese in the 19th, while with Ruben Trumpelmann's (13*) late fireworks, Namibia finished on a below-par total, 132/8. The Indians put five bowlers into the attack, with Ashwin and Jadeja claiming three each, while the latter was exceedingly economical.

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In reply, the Indian openers were off to a breezy start, with KL Rahul (54*) and Rohit Sharma (56) contributing to an 86-run partnership. While Rohit scored his 24th T20I half-century in the process, he was dismissed by pacer Jan Frylinck in the tenth over. However, it hardly made a difference, as the superiority of the Indians prevailed.

Rahul, along with Suryakumar Yadav (25*), got the job done within 16 overs, while India comfortably secured a nine-wicket win, as the former scored his 15th T20I 50. As for the Namibians, they utilised seven bowlers, with Frylinck being the only one to claim a wicket, while he was also the most economical one from his side.
Brief scores: Namibia 132/8 (Wiese- 26; Jadeja- 3/16) lost to India 136/1 in 15.2 overs (Rahul- 54*, Rohit- 56; Frylinck- 1/19) by nine wickets.

• T20 World Cup 2021
• india vs namibia