Hafeez played like an experienced player – http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482
Shahid Afridi, the Pakistani skipper hailed the hard-hitting batting of Mohammad Hafeez after his explosive century drove his side win the third One Day International (ODI) against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 on Saturday.
“The way Hafeez started, he played like an experienced player,” Afridi exclaimed after a post-match conference.
It took 61 one day matches to reach his maiden ODI century, hitting twelve fours and two sixes to smash 115 off 144 balls. The opener gave the Kiwis bowling attack a struggling time as he stubbornly stood his ground and steered his team to 202 for the loss
of five wickets. Test captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972 supported him as together they added 94 runs.
Afridi also appreciated Misbah’s innings as he formed the backbone of the middle overs.
“Misbah and Hafeez took the responsibility to ensure that we bat for the full fifty overs,” Afridi enthused admitting that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 played “mature cricket.”
Pakistan indeed played well as they displayed an all-round performance. Pakistan set the target of 293 for the fall of seven wickets in 50 overs. The Pakistani supporters went crazy when the captain came up at the crease as he blistered to 65 in just 25
runs.
He fired up the stadium at Christchurch with five sixes and five boundaries. He was aptly supported by late-order batsman Umar Akmal who came near to score a half century, but was caught off Hamish Bennett at 44 off just 29 balls.
However, the Pakistani skipper devoted a bulk of limelight on the partnership of Misbah and Hafeez saying that both the players took charge.
“Hafeez and Misbah took their time and we had wickets in hand,” Afridi commented before adding that the batting line-up had played with maturity.
The Kiwis knew that chasing 293 was a formidable task in itself but they started off confidently, yet the opposition’s bowlers proved stronger for them. The Black Caps came up 43 runs short as they lost key wickets at regular intervals.
Afridi praise Umar Gul who proved to be the most economical, claiming two wickets off 31 runs. He admitted that even though Gul is more experienced in the limited-overs arena and has already proved his mettle in Test cricket, but youngsters Sohail Tanvir
and Wahab Riaz are working hard to come at par ahead of the World Cup. Both of them took two wickets each.
Pakistan have now levelled the five match series 1-1 as New Zealand won the first ODI with the second ODI being washed out by rains at Queenstown. The fourth ODI will be played at Napier on 1 February.
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