🏏ICC Men's T20 W C 2026: Group A, M 35: Namibia vs Pak at Colombo🏏

🏏ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026: Group A, M 35: Namabia vs Pak at Colombo🏏

So it has come to this. Pakistan must beat Namibia in their final league fixture to stay alive in the tournament and progress to the Super 8s.

It has been a chastening few days for Salman Agha's side. After all the talk of this being a far stronger unit than the one that lost three times to India in the Asia Cup, the 61-run defeat on Sunday felt familiar. Agreed, their meetings with India in the 2022 and 2024 T20 World Cups were close contests but Pakistan were unable to cross the finish line. And since the Asia Cup, the trend has only solidified, with India recording four comfortable wins in succession.

Criticism has followed swiftly. Senior pros Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi were well below their best in the last outing and there are legitimate questions around their place in the side. Shaheen was expensive and unable to exert control either in the PowerPlay or at the death, conceding 1 for 31 in his two overs. Babar, meanwhile, again appeared vulnerable against spin, an area that has troubled him since his return to the T20I side after being left out of the Asia Cup.

Namibia are already out of contention but this is an opportunity to bow out on a high against a Pakistan side low on confidence. They have enough issues of their own though. Ruben Trumpelmann's dip in form has hurt, with Namibia being the least effective PowerPlay bowling side of the tournament. With the bat, captain Gerhard Erasmus's modest returns have mirrored the team's struggles in three straight defeats.

With one match to go, though, there is still a lot to play for. As co-hosts of the 2027 ODI World Cup, Namibia have a bigger stage on the horizon and this is a chance to take back lessons and momentum before the world comes knocking on their door.

When: Wednesday, February 18, 2026 at 3 PM local

Where: Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo

What to expect: It's the same pitch on which Ireland made 235/5 against Oman and it's set to be batting-friendly again, with Namibia coach Craig Williams impressed by the nice, evenly rolled covering of grass on the track. The playing area here is smaller than at R. Premadasa and the pitch is not at the centre of the square, so expect a lot of runs through the shorter side of the ground. It's been overcast in Colombo and some rain showers are expected in the lead-up to the match.

Team news:

Pakistan

Will Pakistan continue to stick with Shaheen Afridi and Babar Azam? If the team management decides otherwise, Salman Mirza and Fakhar Zaman are more than ready to step in, if their practice session on match eve is anything to go by.

Probable XI: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Agha(c), Babar Azam/Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Nawaz, Usman Khan(w), Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi/Salman Mirza, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Tariq

Namibia

Ben Shikongo sustained a thigh injury during Namibia's game against India and has since been replaced by Alex Volschenk.

Probable XI: Jan Frylinck, Louren Steenkamp, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Gerhard Erasmus(c), JJ Smit, Zane Green(w), Dylan Leicher, Ruben Trumplemann, Willem Myburgh, Bernard Scholtz, Max Heingo

Did you know?

Since returning to Pakistan's T20I side after the Asia Cup exclusion, Babar Azam's strike-rate against spin is 101.70

Namibia's strike bowler Trumplemann has managed just a line wicket in three matches so far

Pakistan have bowled 13, 16, and 18 overs of spin in their three matches so far

What they said:

Both Babar and Shaheen have won many matches for Pakistan. We shouldn't write them off just because they did not perform well in one game [vs India]: Usman Tariq, Pakistan bowler

We have put ourselves in really good positions but our batting unit hasn't been able to close those death overs... Look, Pakistan is a good team guys, let's be honest. Probably just going through a little bit of bad form but they'll be having the same meetings as us and like anybody else who goes through a dip in T20 cricket. And we must not forget that they were playing against the No.1 team, that is India: Craig Williams, Namibia coach

Big picture - Pakistan's one goal against Namibia: do not lose

After the reality check of the India game, Pakistan have only one goal for this final group match against Namibia - do not lose.

Victory - or a washout - will secure them a Super Eight berth, which they famously failed to qualify for in 2024, at USA's expense. Should Namibia spring a surprise, it will once more be USA that progress at Pakistan's expense, and condemn them to a third straight first-round exit at a men's ICC event.

Pakistan should comfortably have enough to overcome a Namibian side that is winless in Group A. But frayed nerves can play havoc should the Namibians find a way to turn this into a scrap. Against Netherlands in the tournament opener, Pakistan found themselves on the brink of defeat after a couple of wickets during a routine chase saw them dramatically lose their way.

But the loss against India, and the magnitude of the defeat, is likely to have shaken confidence. The one-dimensional bowling plans were clearly exposed by India, with Pakistan in possession of no credible seam option bar a struggling Shaheen Afridi. With the bat, the failure of the top order effectively killed off the game inside the first two overs.

There is likely to be a sweep of changes after the loss against India for Pakistan, with a tweak to their bowling combination that allows more pace. However, they will be aware they need to do a little more than was required of them against USA last week, when a clinical - if not overwhelming - performance proved too much for the Americans.

Namibia do not possess anywhere near the same quality, but, already eliminated, they go into the game with a level of freedom Pakistan do not possess. Their strength lies at the top of the batting order, where they caused discomfort to both the USA and the Netherlands, though not for long enough to convert it into points. They will need to play the perfect game, and for long enough, to cause the upset of the tournament and do their fellow Associates a big favour.

In the spotlight - Saim Ayub and Louren Steenkamp

Saim Ayub has established his all-round T20 credentials, but as yet, a standout innings with the bat at an T20 World Cup remains elusive. He came into this tournament in imperious form, but three matches in Sri Lanka have seen him restricted to cameos at best, with 49 runs in three innings. That built on from the 2024 World Cup, where he couldn't kick on in the two games he played. It has amounted to a T20 World Cup average of 14.40 at a strike rate just above 118, both well below his overall career numbers. Against Namibia, Pakistan may require him to settle nerves, whether it's with a blistering start that bats the opposition out of the game, or breaks the back of a target. It is, after all, what Pakistan's continued participation in the tournament could come down to.

Louren Steenkamp may be relatively new to the Namibian side, but he is already among their most explosive run-scorers. With a strike rate of just under 133, only Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton has scored at a higher rate through his Namibian career. A failure against Netherlands, he has taken charge of the Namibian innings, facing the first ball and getting them off to flyers against both India and the USA. He was particularly tough on Arshdeep Singh, taking 22 runs off nine balls against him, and following up with 58 off 39 against USA. Namibia will need him to bat through the powerplay, and possibly longer, against a Pakistan attack short on confidence, piling pressure on them in a game where the stakes are already high.

Pitch and conditions

Pakistan return to the Sinhalese Sports Club after one game against India at the R Premadasa Cricket Stadium. The wicket here is somewhat more receptive to seam bowling than the RPS. A black soil pitch, which was earlier used for the game between Ireland and Oman - where Ireland scored 235 - will be used for this game.

There is a mild chance of rain around the time the game is scheduled to start, but forecast should clear up soon after.

Stats and trivia

• Abrar Ahmed is one wicket away from completing 50 T20I scalps for Pakistan.
• When Pakistan faced Namibia in 2021 at the T20 World Cup, they scored 189. Ever since, they had not exceeded that total in T20 World Cups until last week, when they posted 190 against USA.

Quotes

"Shaheen and Babar, they have won many games for Pakistan. (Performance in) one game doesn't show what their capability or calibre is. These guys know very well how to bounce back after such games because they are the most senior players in the team and they know how to retrieve their form back"

Usman Tariq backs Pakistan's star players to come good