Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul’s fiery partnership helped team India defeat Namibia by nine wickets in the final Super 12 match of the ongoing T20 World Cup here at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Monday.
Chasing 133, both and Sharma and Rahul played knocks of 56 and 54 runs and thrashed the Namibian bowlers. Earlier, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja picked three wickets each as Men in Blue restricted Namibia to 132/8. Namibia got a sigh of relief after Rohit Sharma was dismissed by Jan Frylinck in the tenth over but their happiness did not last long as Surya Kumar Yadav joined Rahul and chased the target in just 15.2 overs.
Put to bat first, Namibia got off to a decent start as the side scored 31 runs in the first four overs. Jasprit Bumrah got the scalp of Michael van Lingen in the fifth over which triggered a collapse.
Craig Williams, Stephan Baard and Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton departed in quick succession as Namibia got reduced to 47/4 in the tenth over. Skipper Gerhard Erasmus and David Wiese did try to revive Namibia’s innings but Ashwin dismissed the captain as the team lost half their side. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals and Namibia were soon found reeling at 117/8. In end the, Namibia reached 132/8 as the side scored 37 runs in the last four overs.
Brief Scores: Namibia 132/8 (David Wiese 26, Stephan Baard 21; Ravindra Jadeja 3-16) vs India 136/1 (Rohit Sharma 56, KL Rahul 54*; Jan Frylinck 1-19).
