Colombo, February 18 Describing his team's 102-run victory over Namibia as a "complete performance," Pakistan captain Salman Agha expressed confidence in his spinners' ability to perform well in their first Super Eights game of the T20 World Cup against New Zealand on Wednesday.
Pakistan's victory was driven by Sahibzada Farhan's maiden century and their spinners' excellent performance, which resulted in a convincing win over Namibia and a place in the next stage of the tournament, bouncing back from a heavy defeat against India.
"It was a complete performance. We played well in both the powerplay and the middle overs. Farhan has been batting well for a while, and I'm happy that he got his century," Salman said at the presentation ceremony.
Pakistan will begin the Super Eights with their match against New Zealand at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Saturday, and Salman expressed confidence ahead of the game.
"We have been playing good cricket. New Zealand have also been playing well, so it should be a good game. We have the advantage of having good spinners and all-rounders who can also bat."
"In Sri Lanka, if you have such quality spinners, you don't have to worry about bowling pace," Salman said.
Regarding mystery spinner Usman Tariq's (4/16) remarkable spell, Salman said he was glad that they wouldn't have to face him in a match.
"With the ball, we were lethal. He is a tough bowler, trust me. I have faced him in domestic cricket. It's difficult to pick him, especially with that variation. Thankfully, he is playing for our team," the captain said.
Having posted 199 for three after batting first, Pakistan bowled out Namibia for 97.
This was Player of the Match Sahibzada Farhan's first century in the format internationally, but his fifth in T20s since 2025.
"I don't miss any domestic cricket matches, and doing well in domestic cricket for the last four years has helped me," Farhan said, as former Pakistan captain and expert Wasim Akram translated his words into English.
"It's the result of consistent hard work in domestic cricket back in Pakistan. The pitch wasn't easy to bat on initially, but after a few good shots, I played my natural game. I told Shadab that we needed to get a partnership because we had lost two quick wickets. Everything went according to plan," the opener added.
This defeat meant that Namibia ended their campaign without a win after suffering four successive losses.
The quality of Pakistan's spin bowling proved too much for Namibia.
"It's a special skill to have, to turn the ball both ways like they do. I think that's one of the things we will definitely take home and look to improve on, is facing that type of bowling and making good plans around it, and getting that skill level up to combat it," Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus said.
When asked about the learnings from the tournament, he said, "It's always about nailing those specialist positions. I think for these four editions of the World Cup, it's largely been like the top and bottom kind of thing."
"So, for openers with the bat, this tournament is definitely a great takeaway, how they've batted in this tournament."
The next ODI World Cup is set to be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, and when asked about it, Erasmus said, "Yeah, lots of cricket around and lots of really exciting things happening in and around cricket in Namibia, which gives the boys a lot of pleasing things to play for. And for the future of cricket in the country, it's definitely a lot to play for."