T20 World Cup 2021 | We’ll take Afghanistan defeat as a stepping stone for future, says Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus

10/31/2021

Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus lauded Afghanistan’s all-round quality, as his team went down by 62 runs in a T20 World Cup 2021 encounter in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. Gerhard and his team looked at the result as “a stepping stone for the future”, ahead of their remaining fixtures in the competition.

Namibia were restricted to 98/9 in their run-chase of 160, largely due to the brilliance of Naveen-ul-Haq and Hamid Hasan, who returned 3/26 and 3/9 respectively from four overs. David Wiese was the lone mainstay, scoring 26 off 30.

Earlier, crucial contributions from Mohammad Shahzad (45), Hazratullah Zazai (33), Asghar Afghan (31), and Mohammad Nabi (32*) helped Afghanistan finish 160/5 after Nabi opted to bat.

Gerhard Erasmus, the Namibia skipper, reflected on a tough outing.

“We knew it would be a level up from the previous games,” Erasmus said. “Afghanistan got away with the bat and a few partnerships stretched the total. I don't think the pitch changed too much. To chase 160, you need to bat well. It was the quality of their attack and their cricketers, even with Mujeeb not playing, that showed today. We are going to take this as a stepping stone for the future.”

There was a beautiful gesture by the team earlier in the day, as they gave Asghar Afghan a guard of honour in what happened to be his final international appearance for Afghanistan.

Namibia will take on Pakistan next, in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, November 2.