New Delhi, Feb 13 (IANS) Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus said they were in contention in the early stages of their chase of 210 against India in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, but wrist spinner Varun Chakravarthy’s decisive spell turned the game in the defending champions’ favour, as they won by 93 runs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Thursday.

India had earlier posted 209/9 in their 20 overs, with Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya leading the charge by hitting fabulous fifties, before Chakravarthy’s 3-7 dismantled Namibia’s middle order, as they were bowled out for 116 in 18.2 overs, handing India a record 93-run victory.

“I thought, after that the Power-play that we had, that it’s quite a small ground, maybe a bit of dew settling might make it tough for the spinners in the back half of that innings. So we really felt after 26 overs of cricket that we’re in with a chance, and unfortunately, that spell of Varun broke the back of our chase,” Erasmus said in the post-match presentation ceremony.

He praised JJ Smit’s death bowling despite the heavy defeat. “I think that death spell as well from Smit coming back, you know, after the powerplay had leaked a bit, I think that’s the kind of specialisation we want in our team. It’s always been a matter of getting the top and bottom ends of our innings to a higher standard to compete with these bigger teams,” he added.

Looking ahead to their next fixture against the USA in Chepauk, Erasmus said conditions could favour Namibia. “I think that’s perhaps slow conditions in Chennai might suit us, and I think there’s still a lot in the tank. I don’t think we’re playing at 100% now.

“So we’d like to see that happen on this tour still. We’ve got a lot of firepower in our batting, but we’re not quite getting enough balls under the belt to set that foundation to show that firepower.”

He signed off by acknowledging India’s quality bowling in the middle overs. “No, I don’t think any change in the pitch. I think obviously there’s quality on the ball from the bowlers from India, and that’s shown in that middle period. That overs 6 to 10 just broke the back.”

–IANS

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