T20 World Cup: India romp to record win against Namibia

Ishan Kishan set things up with a 20-ball half-century, Hardik Pandya made a 27-ball half-century and picked up took two wickets. Varun Chakravarthy took three wickets in his first ten balls.

India posted a 200-plus total, and didn’t let Namibia get anywhere near them. Their 93-run win was their biggest in T20 World Cups.

And yet, because of the expectations India have carried into this tournament and the scrutiny that follows them everywhere, this match was also about all the things they didn’t do. When Kishan was taking Namibia’s seamers apart, 300 was a not unrealistic possibility. When Hardik was at the crease, 240 seemed on the cards.

That they only made 209 was down mainly to one man. Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus, bowling offspin with the widest imaginable range of release points – high-arm and round-arm, sometimes from well behind the bowling crease – made the most of a Delhi pitch with just a bit of grip in it to take 4 for 20 from his four overs.

This included two in his final over, the 19th, which also featured a run-out. And that over began a late and only partially explicable collapse from India, who lost 5 for 4 off the last 11 balls of their innings.

For most part, it was normal service for India against an Associate team. But Erasmus and that late collapse briefly brought the contest to life, and perhaps gave India’s future opponents – including Pakistan, who face them on Sunday and have an artful round-arm spinner of their own – a few ideas.

Samson cameo kicks things off

With a stomach bug ruling out Abhishek Sharma, who had been discharged from hospital on the eve of the match, a door reopened for Sanju Samson. He began his World Cup debut with a flurry of effortless hits – three sixes and a crisp drive for four over extra-cover – before falling for 22 off 8, chipping a Ben Shikongo slower ball straight to deep midwicket.

It was brief, exhilarating, and ultimately told us nothing new. Samson plays a high-variance style at the top of the order, and of late his trigger movement – which takes him deep into his crease and leg-side of the ball – has been getting him into early trouble. He adopted the same trigger in this game, whether he was striking the ball sweetly or being dismissed off a shot he didn’t fully commit to.

Kishan tears into Namibia’s left-armers

In Ruben Trumpelmann and JJ Smit, Namibia have a pair of left-arm quicks who can put big teams in trouble on their day. This wasn’t their day; their angle and lengths kept feeding Kishan’s leg-side repertoire, and he took both bowlers apart while rushing to 61 off 24.

India were 86 for 1 after six overs – their biggest powerplay in a T20 World Cup game – and brought up their 100 in 6.5 overs – no team has got to that mark quicker in a T20 World Cup game. (ESPNcricinfo)