Cricket-India thump Namibia ahead of Pakistan clash

Defending champions India continued their march towards the ​Super Eight stage of the Twenty20 World Cup with a ​93-run plastering of Namibia in a group ‌A ​contest at Arun Jaitley Stadium on Thursday.

Put into bat, India racked up 209-9 after opener Ishan Kishan (61) and middle-order batter Hardik Pandya (52) struck rapid half-centuries. They returned to bundle out Namibia for ‌116 in 18.2 overs to register their second successive victory and top the group because of their net run-rate, which is superior to Pakistan, who also have four points from two games.

The Asian arch-rivals will clash in a blockbuster in Colombo on Sunday. "I think it ‌was a pretty good game for everyone," India captain Suryakumar Yadav said.

"It was not an easy wicket to bat on. ‌The way Ishan and Sanju (Samson) started, it didn't really look like it, but it was a difficult wicket." With Abhishek Sharma, currently the top-ranked T20 batsman, still recovering from a stomach infection, an out-of-form Samson had another opportunity to impress after India were put into bat.

Samson (22) looked keen to make it count too. The ⁠right-hander smacked ​three sixes but frittered away ⁠the start and fell in the second over. Kishan was given lbw on 11 but the opener immediately reviewed the decision and replays confirmed he had edged ⁠it before the ball hit his pad.

Namibia wished it was not the case because Kishan went on to smash JJ Smit for four sixes ​in a row to race to a 20-ball fifty. To make matters worse for Namibia, Louren Steenkamp dropped Tilak Varma (25) when ⁠the batter was on 19.

India needed 4.3 overs to reach 50, and their next 50 came off just 14 balls. Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus (4-20) ended Kishan's 24-ball blitz ⁠and ​they managed to apply the brake after the departures of Varma and Suryakumar (12).

Pandya, who hit four sixes, and Shivam Dube (23) provided the late flourish to take India past the 200-mark. Steenkamp (29) and Jan Frylinck (22) began positively but Namibia kept losing wickets to drift ⁠out of contention.

For India, a fit-again Jasprit Bumrah bowled four tidy overs claiming the wicket of Ruben Trumpelmann with a trademark ⁠yorker. Varun Chakravarthy (3-7) was the pick of ⁠the Indian bowlers, while fellow spinner Axar Patel and player-of-the-match Pandya claimed two wickets apiece.

"After the powerplay, we thought dew might make bowling tough and we had a chance. But that spell ‌from Varun broke the ‌back of our chase," Erasmus said.