Colombo, February 18 Pakistan won by a comfortable margin of 102 runs against Namibia, securing their place in the Super Eights of the T20 World Cup here on Wednesday, thanks to Sahibzada Farhan's brilliant, maiden century and excellent bowling by their spinners.
Batting first, Pakistan posted a formidable total of 199 for three.
Farhan, who reached his century in just 20 balls, ended unbeaten on 100 off 58 balls, becoming the second player from Pakistan to score a century in the tournament after Ahmed Shehzad's ton against Bangladesh in 2014 at Mirpur.
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).
In reply, Namibia were all out for 97 in 17.3 overs with mystery spinner Usman Tariq (4/16 in 3.3 overs) and leg-spinner Shadab Khan (3/19 in 4 overs) leading Pakistan's bowling attack, taking four and three wickets respectively.
Salman Mirza and Mohammad Nawaz each took a wicket, but Namibia struggled in the chase, finishing their campaign without a win after four outings.
With this win, Pakistan have also secured their qualification to the next edition of the T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand in 2028.
This is also Pakistan's biggest victory margin in the T20 tournament.
Earlier, Pakistan had scored 47 runs in the powerplay, losing the wicket of Saim Ayub (14 off 12 balls).
Seeking to recover from their 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 some boundaries, their approach was not ideal, as they resorted to defensive batting, which largely explains why they were 55 for one after the first 10 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 with a big six over deep mid-wicket, and then, sent his googly soaring over the same region, using the slog sweep effectively on both occasions.
The three sixes in one over boosted Pakistan's 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 had been selected for this game, began with a boundary after he cut the ball through backward point.
Nafay's brief innings was cut short when he was caught and bowled by Namibian captain 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.
This total proved to be more than enough for Pakistan.
