Shadab Khan said Pakistan believed they could go on and win the T20 World Cup after their best performance of the tournament secured the last Super Eights berth on Wednesday.
Pakistan bowled out Namibia for 97 to win by a colossal 102 runs in Colombo and bounce back in style after a defeat to arch-rivals India had left them in danger of elimination.
Pakistan rode on an undefeated maiden T20 international century by opener Sahibzada Farhan to post 199-3.
Spinners Usman Tariq and Shadab Khan then shared seven wickets to route Namibia in 17.3 overs.
“We didn’t take this game lightly after so much talk about one match against India,” said Shadab, who scored a brisk 22-ball 36 and grabbed 3-19.
“We are on the right track to achieve the goal of winning the World Cup and we are following a process,” he added.
Shadab warned that the Super Eights, which Pakistan will begin with a match against New Zealand in Colombo on Saturday before facing England and co-hosts Sri Lanka next week, will be a step up.
“There are eight good teams so it will be a tough stage and all matches will be high-pressure games,” said Shadab.
Meanwhile, 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,” he said.
“When it comes to bowling, we were lethal and we were ruthless. We bowled in the right areas.”
Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus admitted there were lessons to be learned as they head home after losing all four of their group matches.
“I think for us, it’s always about nailing those specialist positions,” said Erasmus.
“It has been a great learning experience and will help us in the future.”
Erasmus said Namibia were now looking forward to the ODI World Cup next year, which they will co-host with South Africa and Zimbabwe.
“There is a lot of cricket around and lots of really exciting things happening in and around cricket in Namibia, which gives the boys a lot of pleasing things to play for,” he said.
