ICC Men’s T20 WC 2026 | Match 35: Namibia vs Pakistan | Preview and Predictions

After losing to arch-rivals India, Pakistan will be looking to get back to winning ways and secure their spot in the Super Eight as they get ready to take on Namibia, who have been knocked out and will look to end their campaign with a strong performance and, maybe, a surprise win.

Here, we present our preview and predictions for Match 35 of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 | Match 35: NAM vs PAK | 15:00, February 18, 2026

Pakistan imploded against India as their batters gave away the game in a steep chase early on. Skipper Salman Ali Agha will be disappointed in himself and his top order given the way they threw their wickets away in such a crucial game, and he’ll hope his batters apply themselves more against Namibia and get back among the runs.

Barring Sahibzada Farhan’s 73 against the USA, the Pakistani batters have failed to put up a substantial score on the board, and they’ll hope to close out the group stage by getting some runs under their belts before moving deeper into the tournament.

Pakistan have deployed a near-full spin attack, with Shaheen Shah Afridi being the only pacer in the last two games. Saim Ayub has been a revelation with the new ball and picked up three big wickets against India, providing his captain an added bowling option. The spin attack, comprising Usman Tariq, Shadab Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, and even Agha himself, has been doing the heavy lifting and will remain key going forward.

Namibia, on the other hand, have lost all three of their games and are out of contention to make the Super Eight, though they can spoil Pakistan’s party if they pull off a big upset here.

There hasn’t been anything special with the bat from the Namibians, with their top order scoring most of the runs. Louren Steenkamp got the team’s first half-century of the tournament against the US, but other than that there has been nothing substantial from the batters; captain Gerhard Erasmus will hope for some signs of improvement before leaving Sri Lanka.

There has not been much from the bowlers either. Barring Erasmus’ four-wicket haul against India, the Namibian bowlers haven’t been able to provide major breakthroughs. Namibia have also leaked runs, having conceded above 150 in all of their games in what has otherwise been a relatively low-scoring tournament.

While Pakistan weren’t at their best against India, they start as our favourites in this encounter. The Colombo pitch, like those at most of the grounds in the tournament, will favour the slower bowlers, with some runs on offer for batters. 

Fantasy XI: Saim Ayub (c), Louren Steenkamp, Jan Frylinck, Babar Azam (vc), Gerhard Erasmus, Usman Khan (wk), Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Tariq, Bernard Scholtz

Venue: Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo
Winners Prediction: Pakistan