The ICC have confirmed the 12 automatic qualifiers for the 2028 men’s T20 World Cup hosted by Australia and New Zealand
Pakistan have become the final team to qualify for the Super Eight of the men’s T20 World Cup after Sahibzada Farhan’s maiden international century propelled them to a thumping 102-run victory over Namibia in Colombo.
Farhan remained unbeaten on exactly 100 off 58 balls on Wednesday, reaching his landmark in the final over as Pakistan posted 199 in their must-win Group A encounter at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground.
Despite a slow start, the opener’s explosive knock featured 11 boundaries and four sixes, with skipper Salman Agha contributing a useful 38 and Shadab Khan adding an unbeaten 36 that included two sixes in the final over of the innings.
“Early on the wicket wasn’t that easy to bat on, I told Saim (Ayub) we’ll take some time and I was confident that with time we could set a target,” said Farhan, who was named the player of the match.
“The partnership with Shadab was important. The idea was to build a partnership and once the partnership gets going, I would take charge and Shadab can hit as well.”
Namibia’s chase never gained momentum despite a promising start from opener Louren Steenkamp, who raced to 23 before the African side began losing wickets at regular intervals.
Shadab (3-19) proved instrumental with the ball as well, dismissing skipper Gerhard Erasmus before having Alexander Busing-Volschenk stumped for 20 when the middle-order batter charged down the pitch as the required run-rate mounted.
Spinner Usman Tariq cleaned up the tail and finished with career-best figures of 4-16 as Namibia were dismissed for 97, ending their World Cup campaign without a win to finish bottom of the group.
Pakistan skipper Salman Agha was beaming when he described the win as a “complete performance”.
“We started really well and, in the middle, we put partnerships on and then finished well,” he said.
“Sahibzada has been outstanding, the way he’s been batting for us for the last six months. He scored a hundred today and I’m very happy for him.
“When it comes to bowling, we were lethal and we were ruthless. We bowled in the right areas.”
Pakistan joins India as the Super Eight qualifiers from Group A, with the former going into the second pool where they’ll face England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
India are in the first Super Eight group alongside Zimbabwe, West Indies and South Africa.
All teams in the Super Eight have also secured automatic qualification for the next edition of the tournament in Australia and New Zealand in 2028.
As joint hosts, Australia are assured of a place at the 2028 T20 World Cup despite their early exit from this year’s event following losses to Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, marking the first time the former champions have been eliminated at the group stage since 2009.
The list of 12 automatic qualifiers for the next event will be completed by the next three highest-ranked teams in the men’s T20I rankings as of March 9, which is the day after this year’s final.
The ICC have confirmed the remaining three spots for 2028 will be filled by Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Ireland, who are the next three-highest ranked teams with no upcoming international fixtures scheduled that could alter their rankings before the cut-off date.
“The remaining eight places in the 20-team field will be determined through a regional qualification pathway, with allocations based on the relative competitive strength of each region,” the ICC said in a statement.
All matches will be broadcast on Amazon’s Prime Video
