Colombo, February 18 Sahibzada Farhan struck a brilliant, unbeaten century to propel Pakistan to a commanding 199/3 against Namibia in their must-win T20 World Cup match here on Wednesday.
Farhan, who reached his century in just 20 balls, finished unbeaten on 100 off 58 balls, becoming only the second player from Pakistan to score a century in the tournament after Ahmed Shehzad's ton against Bangladesh in Mirpur in 2014.
In all, Farhan hit 11 boundaries and four sixes while adding 67 runs with captain Salman Agha (38 off 23 balls) and 81 runs with Shadab Khan (36 not out off 22 balls).
Batting first, Pakistan scored 47 runs in the powerplay, losing the wicket of Saim Ayub (14 off 12 balls).
Seeking to bounce back from a heavy defeat against traditional rivals India, Pakistan strengthened their batting by including Khawaja Nafay in the middle order, while leaving out the out-of-form pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi.
While the team did manage a few boundaries, their approach was far from ideal, as they resorted to defensive batting, which largely explained why they were 55/1 after 5 overs at the Sinhalese Sports Club.
However, captain Salman Agha broke the deadlock at the start of the ninth over with a six off Willem Myburgh, who came down the track to hit one over long-on.
Taking a cue from his captain, Farhan launched into Myburgh's leg-spin for a big six over deep mid-wicket, and then, sent his googly soaring over the same region in a similar fashion, using the slog sweep effectively on both occasions.
The three sixes in one over gave Pakistan a boost in their run rate, and Salman Agha then lofted Bernard Scholtz straight down the ground for another maximum.
However, Agha was caught by Gerhard Erasmus off Brassell in the next over.
Nafay, who was picked for this game, began with a boundary after he cut the ball through backward point.
Nafay's brief stay was cut short when he was caught and bowled by Namibian skipper Erasmus.
Meanwhile, Farhan continued to lead Pakistan's batting, cutting, pulling, and driving with finesse to dominate Namibian bowlers.
Shadab ended the Pakistan innings with two sixes against Erasmus in the last over.
