Varun Chakravarthy, second from left, celebrates with teammate Ishan Kishan after the wicket of Nicol Loftie-Eaton of Namibia, right, during the T20 World Cup cricket match between India and Namibia in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP) NEW DELHI: India beat Namibia by 93 runs in their T20 World Cup group stage match in New Delhi on Thursday to claim their second consecutive win in the tournament.This was India’s biggest run win in T20 World Cup history. Asked to bat first, India posted 209 for nine in 20 overs, powered by half-centuries from Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya.Kishan scored 61 off 24 balls and hit his fifty in 20 deliveries. Pandya made 52 off 28 balls and added 81 runs for the fifth wicket with Shivam Dube contributing 23 off 16 balls. Sanju Samson had earlier given India a flying start with 22 off eight balls.India reached 100 in the seventh over before Namibia struck back. Captain Gerhard Erasmus finished with figures of 4 for 20 in four overs. He dismissed Kishan on his first ball when the batsman mistimed his shot to deep mid-wicket. Bernard Scholtz removed Suryakumar Yadav for 12 and Erasmus got another wicket by dismissing Tilak Varma for 25.Pandya and Dube then rebuilt the innings and counter-attacked. Pandya was eventually dismissed by Erasmus and substitute fielder Dylan Leicher completed the catch near the boundary after running in and throwing the ball back into the field before completing it. India lost a few wickets in the final overs.In reply, Namibia were bowled out for 116 in 18.2 overs. Some batsmen got starts but failed to convert them into big scores. Louren Steenkamp top scored with 29. Varun Chakravarthy returned figures of 3 for 7 in two overs.India had earlier defeated the United States in their opening Group A match. They next face Pakistan on Sunday in Colombo in one of the highly watched matches of the 20-team tournament. Earlier this week, the Pakistani government reversed its decision to boycott the match following the tensions.India’s Biggest margin of victory in T20 World Cup (by runs)
- 93 runs vs NAM, Delhi, 2026
- 90 runs vs ENG, Colombo RPS, 2012
- 73 runs vs AUS, Mirpur, 2014
- 71 runs vs ZIM, Melbourne, 2022
- 68 runs vs. ENG, Providence, 2024 SF
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