New Delhi, Feb 13 (NationPress) India made history on Thursday by achieving their 10th consecutive victory in the T20 World Cup, dominating Namibia by 93 runs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

The former record was held by Australia and South Africa, who each managed 8 consecutive wins.

Wrist-spinner Varun Chakaravarthy delivered an outstanding performance, taking 3 wickets for just 7 runs after India set a daunting target of 209 runs for 9. This was bolstered by Ishan Kishan’s explosive 61 runs off 24 balls and Hardik Pandya’s 52 runs off 28 balls. Namibia’s captain, Gerhard Erasmus, stood out with the ball, achieving figures of 4 for 20 with his unique bowling style.

Namibia began their chase with a promising start, as Louren Steenkamp and Jan Frylinck aggressively scored runs during the powerplay. However, Chakaravarthy's exceptional bowling dismantled their middle order. Each Indian bowler contributed at least one wicket, leading to Namibia's all-out score of 116 in just 18.2 overs. The 93-run victory marks India’s largest win in T20 World Cup history, emphasizing their dominance despite minor setbacks during the match.

Namibia's innings began with Frylinck hitting a four and a six off Hardik Pandya, and subsequently, two boundaries off Arshdeep Singh. However, Arshdeep quickly struck back in the fourth over, dismissing Frylinck with a miscue to deep mid-wicket. Steenkamp continued to impress by smashing two boundaries and a six, concluding the powerplay at 57 for 1.

After Namibia scored 10 runs off Jasprit Bumrah’s first over, Chakaravarthy turned the match in the eighth over, bowling a googly that took out Steenkamp for 29 runs. Although Erasmus hit back-to-back sixes off Axar Patel, Chakaravarthy continued to wreak havoc, dismissing Loftie-Eaton and JJ Smit with precise deliveries.

Axar Patel joined the wicket-takers as Erasmus was caught at long-off, followed by Malan Kruger, who was dismissed via top-edge. Bumrah, replacing Mohammed Siraj, bowled a perfect yorker to oust Ruben Trumpelmann, while Hardik secured two wickets and Shivam Dube dismissed Zane Green through a hit wicket. This victory marks India's 10th consecutive win in T20 World Cups.

Match statistics:

10: This win marks India's 10th consecutive victory in the T20 World Cup, setting a new world record. The previous record was held by Australia and South Africa with 8.

4: Gerhard Erasmus, with his 4 wickets for 20 runs, became the fourth captain to achieve this in a T20 World Cup match, joining Rashid Khan, Daniel Vettori, and Zeeshan Maqsood.

4: India scored 209 runs in their 20 overs, marking the 4th instance in T20 World Cup history where they scored over 200 runs in an innings.

47: India has now scored over 200 runs in T20Is a total of 47 times, setting a new world record.

4: Ishan Kishan reached his fifty in just 20 balls, marking the 5th instance of an Indian batter achieving this in 20 or fewer balls at the T20 World Cup.

6.5: India reached 100 runs in just 6.5 overs, the fastest in T20 World Cup history, breaking the previous record of 7 overs held by the Netherlands.