Defending 161, Afghanistan bowled brilliantly in the first 10 overs as they ripped through Namibia’s top order to take control of the game.
Afghanistan were without the services of Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who was their strike bowler in the Powerplay in the previous two games. In his absence, Naveen-ul-Haq ensured that Afghanistan didn’t miss Mujeeb too much as he struck twice in two overs to remove the openers.
Earlier, Mohammad Nabi once again played a crucial cameo for Afghanistan at the back end of the innings as his 17-ball 32* powered the team to 160. Afghanistan finished strongly in the death, scoring 46 runs in the last four overs as Namibia bowlers were guilty of bowling a few too many loose balls.
Craig Williams was the first to make the long walk back as he skied a pull straight to the fielder a mid-off in the first over. Naveen then outfoxed Michael van Lingen with a clever slower ball. Charging down the track, Van Lingen went through with the pull but only mistimed it to Hamid Hassan at square leg.
It went from bad to worse for Namibia as Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton was cleaned up by Gulbadin Naib by the slower one as the Eagles finished the Powerplay at 29/3.
Rashid Khan was introduced earlier into the attack and struck with his first ball, with Zane Green completely missing the paddle sweep.
David Wiese and Gerhard Erasmus were left to rebuild the innings but struggled to find the ropes as Namibia finished with only four boundaries in the first 10 overs, still needing 106 from the remaining 10.
