Auckland bowlers used the conditions well says Shoaib Malik – Cricket News Update
Following the team’s heavy defeat in their opening Champions League T20 game, Sialkot Stallions’ skipper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Auckland-c766 Aces, by claiming that they used the conditions well.
After opting to bat first, the Stallions were halted on a paltry 130, courtesy some exceptional seam bowling from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shakeel-Ansar-c89546.
A recovery of some sort was made by Malik and Shahid Yousuf but the team’s inability to rotate the strike eventually proved fatal. The Stallions scored half of their runs in boundaries but their failure to accumulate steadily always kept the opposition in front. Their decision to bat first was also surprising, given that the track offered considerable assistance to the pace bowlers.
"It was very tough when we were batting and the Auckland bowlers used the conditions well, but http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Yousuf-c89461 batted brilliantly in the end. I thought it was enough."
Malik’s counterpart, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/David-Lawson-Miller-c53037 led the English county to a 5-wicket win.
"When I looked at the first game [Yorkshire v Uva Next], I thought 150 was a little light," he said. "I actually thought something around 160 would be par."
Despite their emphatic win, which has put them in pole position to qualify from their pool, Hopkins said that there was still room for improvement in the bowling department after they failed to restrict their opponents in the death overs following the initial advantage they had gained.
“If we had been better with certain areas of our game we think we could have had them for less, especially because there was a lot of sideways movement," he said. "We still saw them get under the length balls and hit us for six."
Sialkot Stallions will now need to beat http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hampshire-c789 convincingly in their final match, and hope that other results go in their favour.
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