Sahibzada Farhan scored his first international T20 century as Pakistan defeated Namibia by 102 runs in Colombo.
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Pakistan produced their best performance so far in the 2026 T20 World Cup, defeating a below-average Namibia by 102 runs to reach the Super Eights.
Sahibzada Farhan, chosen to bat first at Colombo’s Sinhala Sports Club Ground on Wednesday, cruised to a 199-3 victory as Pakistan scored their first hit of the T20 international century.
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The 29-year-old hit 11 fours and four sixes after facing 58 balls to hit exactly an unbeaten hundred, while Usman Tariq recorded his best bowling figures of 4 wins and 16 losses.
The victory confirmed Pakistan’s place in the Super Eight stage, which will be held in India and Sri Lanka, with their African opponents losing three of their three group stage matches.
Farhan has scored five T20 centuries in domestic and international cricket since the beginning of 2025.
“I have been playing domestic cricket regularly for five years and have never missed a match,” the right-hander said.
“Pakistan’s hard work in domestic cricket has paid off.
“Early on, the wickets weren’t easy. I conveyed that to the captain and we agreed to play normal cricket till six overs and play my natural game from there.”
“We lost a few wickets in a row so the idea was to build a partnership and then take the lead.”
After Sunday’s loss to India, a second loss would have seen Pakistan eliminated and either the United States or the Netherlands promoted from Group A.
But Farhan had other ideas, blasting off-pace bowler Jack Brassell for a six and a four to get into the 90s, before taking one off Gerhard Erasmus to complete his hundred in the final over.
Farhan was ably supported by captain Salman Agha, hitting 38 off 23 balls in partnership with the former who scored 67 for the second wicket.
Shadab Khan, who was promoted to No. 5 after Babar Azam, was as destructive as his captain with an unbeaten 36 from 22 matches. The unbeaten run with Farhan was worth 81 in 6.4 overs, with the former hitting three sixes.
Namibia’s pursuit never gained momentum despite a promising start from opener Lauren Steenkamp. They raced to 23rd place before the African side started losing wickets regularly.
Pakistan will also be without pace bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, who has performed poorly in the first three matches, conceding 31 runs in two overs against India on Sunday.
But spinner Shadab (3-19) also contributed by passing the ball around, forcing skipper Erasmus to be dismissed and, as the required batting average increased, Alexander Bussing-Volschenk was forced out for 20 runs when the middle-order batsmen charged onto the pitch.
Spinner Tariq cleaned up the mess as Namibia sank to the bottom of the group with 97 defeats.
Pakistan, the last team to qualify for the Super Eight, will face New Zealand in Colombo on Sunday.
Farhan’s performance means this is the first T20 World Cup in three centuries.
He follows Sri Lanka’s Pathum Nissanka, who scored his hundred against Australia on Monday, and Canada’s Yuvraj Sama, who scored in triple digits against New Zealand on Tuesday.
Farhan’s achievement also made him the second Pakistani to score a T20 World Cup century after Ahmed Shehzad against Bangladesh in 2014.
