Pakistan defeated Namibia by 45 runs on Tuesday night in Abu Dhabi to become the first side to qualify for the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2021.
Chasing a formidable target of 190, the African newbies gave a good account of their ability and promise, and were 83-2 at one point in the run chase. They eventually finished with 144-5 as Pakistan collected the two points they needed to go through the next round.
Earlier, skipper Babar Azam and fellow opener Mohammad Rizwan hit half centuries to guide Pakistan to 189-2.
Babar notched his 23rd Twenty20 international fifty with a 49-ball 70 while Rizwan finished with a 50-ball 79 not out after Pakistan won the toss and batted on a greenish Sheikh Zayed stadium pitch.
The pair added 113 for the first wicket after Pakistan were slow out of the blocks, scoring just 59 in the first ten overs but ended with a flurry in the next ten, taking 130 runs.
Veteran Mohammad Hafeez scored a brisk 16-ball 32 not out with five boundaries.
Pakistan's total is the second highest in this tournament, behind Afghanistan's 190-4 against Scotland in Sharjah.
Pakistan top Group 1 with three wins in as many games and a victory here will see them become the first team to qualify for the semi-finals.
Babar hit seven boundaries before he holed out to David Wiese in the 15th over while Fakhar Zaman was smartly caught by keeper Zane Green for five.
Rizwan reached his tenth half century with a pulled six off Wiese in the 19th over before hitting four boundaries and a six to take 22 off JJ Smit's final over.
Rizwan's knock included eight fours and four sixes.The stubborn opening duo of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan delivered yet again on a difficult Abu Dhabi wicket, sharing their fifth century stand to help Pakistan recover from a slow start and post a target of 190 runs for Namibia to chase.
On a pace-friendly wicket, Namibian pacers had Babar and Rizwan on the back foot early on but the pair masterfully absorbed that pressure before systematically upping the ante and producing 113 runs for the opening wicket.
Babar departed after contributing 70 off 49 balls while Rizwan continued and batted through the innings, finishing with an unbeaten 79 off 50 balls.
Somewhere in between , out-of-form Mohammad Hafeez appeared and played a cameo of 32 from just 16 deliveries. The last time Pakistan played an unchanged side in four straight T20Is, it was in 2009 and they won the World Cup. Is this a sign of things to come?
Pakistan retain the same playing XI despite the size of their opposition. That decision is contrary to the wishes of the fans, who wanted the team to use fringe players, particularly Haider Ali (scroll down for poll results).
Pakistan: 1 Babar Azam (capt), 2 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 3 Fakhar Zaman, 4 Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Asif Ali, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Shaheen Shah Afridi
Namibia: 1 Stephan Baard, 2 Michael van Lingen, 3 Craig Williams, 4 Gerhard Erasmus (capt), 5 David Wiese, 6 JJ Smit, 7 Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, 8 Zane Green (wk), 9 Jan Frylinck, 10 Ruben Trumpelmann, 11 Ben Shikongo
6:31pm: Pakistan have won the toss and opted to bat first for the first time during this World Cup of theirs.
6:07pm: Interesting fact:
Pakistan have never played a Twenty20 International against Namibia while they won the only ODI between the two sides in the 2003 World Cup (50 overs) with a 171-run margin in South Africa.
End of live updates!
144-5 after 20 overs: Shaheen to Wiese, no run
144-5 after 19.5 overs: Shaheen to Wiese, 2 runs
142-5 after 19.4 overs: Shaheen to Wiese, no run
142-5 after 19.4 overs: Shaheen to Wiese, 4 runs NO BALL
137-5 after 19.3 overs: Shaheen to Wiese, 6 runs
131-5 after 19.2 overs: Shaheen to Wiese, 2 runs
129-5 after 19.1 overs: Shaheen to Loftie-Eaton, 1 run
Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton 6 (6) David Wiese 29 (25)
128-5 after 19 overs: Haris to Loftie-Eaton, 1 run
127-5 after 18.5 overs: Haris to Loftie-Eaton, 2 runs
125-5 after 18.4 overs: Haris to Wiese, 1 run
124-5 after 18.3 overs: Haris to Wiese, 2 runs
122-5 after 18.2 overs: Haris to Wiese, no run
122-5 after 18.1 overs: Haris to Wiese, 6 runs
Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton 3 (4) David Wiese 21 (21)
116-5 after 18 overs: Hasan to Loftie-Eaton, no run
116-5 after 17.5 overs: Hasan to Loftie-Eaton, 2 runs
114-5 after 17.4 overs: Hasan to Wiese, 1 run
113-5 after 17.3 overs: Hasan to Loftie-Eaton, 1 run
112-5 after 17.2 overs: Hasan to Loftie-Eaton, no run
112-5 after 17.1 overs: Hasan to Wiese, 1 run
David Wiese 19 (19) Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton 0 (0)
111-5 after 17 overs: Haris to Wiese, 1 run
110-5 after 16.5 overs: Haris to Smit OUT CAUGHT
110-4 after 16.4 overs: Haris to Smit, no run
110-4 after 16.3 overs: Haris to Wiese, 1 run
109-4 after 16.2 overs: Haris to Wiese, 2 runs
107-4 after 16.1 overs: Haris to Wiese, no run
JJ Smit 2 (3) David Wiese 16 (15)
107-4 after 16 overs: Shaheen to Smit, no run
107-4 after 15.5 overs: Shaheen to Wiese, 1 run
106-4 after 15.4 overs: Shaheen to Wiese, no run
106-4 after 15.3 overs: Shaheen to Wiese, 4 runs
102-4 after 15.2 overs: Shaheen to Wiese, no run
102-4 after 15.1 overs: Shaheen to Smit, 1 run
JJ Smit 1 (1) David Wiese 11 (11)
101-4 after 15 overs: Hasan to Smit, 1 run
100-4 after 14.5 overs: Hasan to Wiese, 1 run
99-4 after 14.4 overs: Hasan to Wiese, 4 runs
95-4 after 14.3 overs: Hasan to Wiese, 2 runs
93-4 after 14.2 overs: Hasan to Wiese, no run
93-4 after 14.1 overs: Hasan to Wiese, no run