IND vs NAM T20 World Cup 2026: Indian team's record-breaking win over Namibia...

 IND vs NAM, T20 World Cup 2026: The Indian team faced Namibia in Match No. 18 of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 on Thursday (February 12). The Indian team achieved a resounding victory by 93 runs in this Group A match held at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. This was India's biggest win in terms of runs in a T20 World Cup. Previously, they had defeated England by 90 runs in the 2012 T20 World Cup.

India set Namibia a target of 210 runs in this match. Chasing the target, Namibia were bowled out for 116 runs in 16.2 overs. Varun Chakravarthy took three wickets for 7 runs in two overs. Player of the Match Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel also took two wickets each. Ishan Kishan also played a key role in India's victory, wreaking havoc with the bat.

This was India's second consecutive win in the current tournament. Defending champions India began their campaign with a 29-run victory against the USA (United States of America). Namibia, meanwhile, lost their opening match to the Netherlands by seven wickets.

Namibia's innings

Namibia didn't have a good start in the run chase. They lost Jan Frylinck in the fourth over, who was dismissed by Arshdeep Singh for 22. Lauren Steenkamp and Jan Nicole Lofty-Eaton then added 34 runs. Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy broke the partnership by dismissing Lauren Steenkamp (29). Varun didn't stop there, taking two wickets in the same over: Jan Nicole Lofty-Eaton (13 runs) and JJ Smit (0 runs).

Ishan and Hardik scored half-centuries

Earlier, after losing the toss and batting first, India scored 209 for 9. The Indian team's start was poor, and they lost Sanju Samson cheaply. Sanju contributed 22 runs off 8 balls, hitting three sixes and a four. Sanju's wicket was taken by Ben Shikongo. From here, Ishan Kishan and Tilak Verma shared a 79-run partnership for the second wicket. Ishan reached his fifty off just 20 balls, hitting five fours and four sixes.

From there, Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube added 81 runs for the fifth wicket to take India to a big total. Hardik scored 52 runs off 28 balls, hitting four sixes and four fours. Hardik reached his fifty off 27 balls, while Shivam Dube contributed 23 runs. Both batsmen were dismissed in the 19th over. Gerhard Erasmus also dismissed Axar Patel for 0 in that over.

India's playing 11 for the match: Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Verma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, and Jasprit Bumrah.

Namibia's playing 11 for the match: Lauren Steenkamp, Jan Frylinck, Jan Nicole Lofty-Eaton, Gerhard Erasmus (captain), JJ Smit, Jan Green (wicketkeeper), Ruben Trumpelmann, Malan Kruger, Bernard Scholtz, Ben Shikongo, and Max Hengo.

Summary

India and Namibia have previously played only one T20 International match. That match took place during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021. The Indian team defeated Namibia by 9 wickets in the match played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai.