Misbah Ul Haq salutes bowlers on Hamilton win
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 captain Misbah Ul Haq is a content man after his team fashioned out an incredible win in the first test of the two match series against New Zealand. The match played at Hamilton’s Seddon park ended only on the third day as the
hosts crashed abysmally after conceding a 92 runs lead in the first innings.
The Black Caps were rolled over for 110 runs in their second innings setting Pakistan a target of 19 runs which was achieved by the opening pair of Taufeeq Umar and Mohammad Hafeez inside 4 overs.
Misbah added that he was stunned by the result himself as the match turned on its head in the last session of the day where the hosts lost all 10 second innings wickets in an abject surrender that left the home crowd perplexed and dejected.
"We didn't feel like we were going to win today because the wicket was a bit flat and a bit slow," Misbah said. "It wasn't easy to get batsmen out here, but I think the bowlers did a fantastic job and they won the match for us today. They
stuck to the job and did very well for the team."
"The pitch is slow so it's not easy to score runs. The way I batted, I felt that it was a really tough wicket to score runs on. Batsmen get frustrated when they get stuck there and have to face a lot of deliveries without scoring many
runs. So that was the key, to bowl in the right areas and just keep the batsmen frustrated and they are going to make mistakes."
Misbah added that the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 batsmen were under pressure as the Pakistani bowlers bowled brilliantly in the second innings. He praised the combined effort put in by the pacers and man of the match spinner Abdul Rehman. The Faisalabad
born right handed batsman was also happy with a solid batting performance of his batsmen, he himself was instrumental in the batting effort scoring a fine half century, his third in the last two test matches.
"We batted well. Our plan was to bat a bit longer and we wanted a bigger lead, because it looked like batting in the fourth innings was going to be trouble on this wicket."
"I think that most batsmen are not used to these kinds of wickets where run-scoring is really difficult. You have to be a bit patient. As a batsman you feel under pressure when there are maiden overs and dot balls and you do make mistakes.
We bowled and fielded well, and a 92-run lead would have been another thing on the batsmen's mind. I think all these things came together and we were able to get through."
The Pakistanis would be hoping to win the second test match at http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 in a three match series held at home in 2006-07.
Misbah would also be extremely happy with the way things have started in his captaincy career, the batsman who was discarded after a string of low scores in the last season was brought back to lead the test team after Salman Butt was suspended
for his alleged involvement in the spot fixing scandal that hit the Pakistan team during the Lords test match against England last August.
There is one final hurdle that he has to overcome before he enjoys his first test series win, the hurdle is the second test and one hopes that he can help the beleaguered Pakistan team regain their status as one of the top teams in international
cricket.
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