George Bailey admits Australia struggled against Pakistan spinners – Cricket News Update
Australian skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/George-Bailey-c1480 admitted on Tuesday that they were outplayed by the Pakistan spinners in their final Super Eight match, played at the R Premadasa Stadium, in Colombo, yesterday, October 2, 2012.
Chasing a middling 150 to win, the mighty Aussies could manage just 117 for seven in their stipulated twenty overs, to hand Pakistan a 32-run win, in what was a must-win game for the latter to keep their hopes alive for the tournament
semi-finals.
Pakistan spinners had the opposition under check right from the word go, removing the formidable opening duo of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DA-Warner-c1301 inside the powerplay overs, to leave the mighty Aussies struggling at 19 for 2 by the end
of fifth over.
None of the Australian batsmen, except for Mike Hussey (54 not out), could stand up to the Pakistan spin attack, as they struggled to amass the much needed 112, to keep their chances of progressing to the final fours alive.
All of Australia’s seven wickets were taken by the spinners, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Hafeez-c76898 (2).
Despite losing their last Super Eight encounter to Pakistan, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Thomas-Donald-Topley-c93395 by virtue of their superior net run-rate.
Bailey admitted that after being exposed by the Pakistan spin attack on Tuesday, it would be a challenge for his top-order batsmen to return to form ahead of the World T20 semi-final against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760, on Friday.
“http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 outplayed us,” Bailey said after the 32-run defeat. “The ball turned more, they used spin against us well. You want your top-order to do the majority of the scoring. The challenge will be to get that form back in the semis,” the Australian skipper
went on to add.
Later, Pakistan also qualified for the tournament semi-finals, courtesy South Africa’s valiant performance against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750. The Men in Blue needed to beat the Proteas by 31 runs to progress to the next round, but they could manage only a one-run victory, thanks
to Faf du Plessis’ belligerent half-century knock.
Hafeez and men will now play hosts http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 in the first semi-final of the tournament, at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, on Thursday, October 4, 2012.
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