T20 World Cup 2021: Afghanistan beat Namibia as Asghar Afghan calls time on international career

Abu Dhabi: Afghanistan gave a perfect farewell present to Asghar Afghan with a thumping 62-run victory over Namibia in the T20 World Cup on Sunday. Asghar made 31 off 23 balls in his last international appearance, which lifted Afghanistan to 160-5 after captain Mohammad Nabi won the toss and opted to bat in the Group 2 game. [caption id=“attachment_10100761” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Afghanistan’s Asghar Afghan is carried by his teammates from the field after defeating Namibia by 62 runs. AP[/caption] Namibia batsmen fell against the slower deliveries of Afghanistan fast bowlers and limped to 98-9 with David Wiese top-scoring with 26 off 30 balls. Fast bowler Hamid Hassan, playing his first T20 international in five years, picked up 3-9 while Naveen-ul-Haq polished off the top order to finish with 3-27. Asghar, who announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Saturday, was given a guard of honour by Namibia fielders as he walked out to bat midway through the innings. He belted three fours and a six before scooping a catch to backward point in the penultimate over. Afghanistan, which has two tough games in hand against New Zealand and India, has four points from three games. It lost a nail-biting game to Pakistan by five wickets when hard-hitting Asif Ali smashed four sixes in the penultimate over. Namibia has two points from two games after beating Scotland in the opening game.