T20 World Cup 2021, Match 31: Pakistan vs Namibia, Stats Preview: Player records and approaching milestones

Pakistan will aim to officially seal a place in the T20 World Cup 2021 semi-finals as take on Namibia in their upcoming fixture. The encounter takes place at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday (November 2). Both teams have had entirely different campaigns in this competition which makes the Men in Green firm favourites.

Having won their first three games, Pakistan’s place in the semi-finals is all but certain. However, a win against Namibia would give them an official ticket. The Babar Azam-led side has ticked almost all the boxes during their triumph against India, New Zealand and Afghanistan. While Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf have made the ball talk, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Asif Ali have been the stand-out performers in the bowling department.

As far as Namibia are concerned, they entered the Super 12 stage after clearing the preliminary round. Having defeated Scotland by four wickets, they started off the group stage well. However, a 62-run defeat against Afghanistan in the following encounter showcased the side still has some work to do in order to challenge Test-playing nations. Hence, it would be interesting to see if they can give a fight to Pakistan or not.

Meanwhile, let’s look at important stats and numbers ahead of the 31st game of the T20 World Cup 2021:

Head to head: These two teams have never met in T20Is before.

14 – Pakistan have won their last 14 T20I matches in the United Arab Emirates.

79 – JJ Smit needs 79 runs to complete 500 runs in T20 internationals.

2 – Gerhard Erasmus needs 2 hits over the fence to complete 50 sixes in T20 cricket.

100 – Zane Green needs 100 runs to complete 500 T20 runs.

50 – Mohammad Hafeez needs 50 runs to become the first Pakistani and sixth overall player to complete 2,500 runs in T20Is.

5 – Shoaib Malik needs five fours to complete 200 boundaries in T20Is.

2 – Hasan Ali needs two big hits to complete 50 sixes in international cricket.

40 – Shadab Khan is 40 runs shy of completing 1000 runs in international cricket.

14 – If Babar Azam gets a half-century in this game, he’ll become the captain with most 50-plus scores in T20Is (14). He currently shares the feat with Virat Kohli.

63 – Azam also needs 63 runs to become the first player to score 1000 T20 runs as a captain in a calendar year.

2 – Haris Rauf is two scalps away from completing 50 wickets in international cricket.