Misbah ul Haq: We were lucky to walk away with a win – Cricket News Update
Defeating India in the first ODI at Chennai, Pakistani Captain, Misbah ul Haq, believes it was luck that allowed his side to bag a victory against the World Champions (who scored 227 batting first, even after losing half of the side for just 29 runs).
The heroics of left-arm fast bowler, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Junaid-Khan-c77037 (4-43), allowed Pakistan to push the home side on the back foot after they lost 5 of their top batsmen with just 29 runs on the board. From thereon, the Men in Blue went on to make a total of 227, courtesy
a herculean century by Indian skipper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028. Feeling lucky to have chased the total down to attain a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series, Misbah believes that Pakistan will need to improve significantly to win the next encounter.
“Today we were lucky, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 gave us a tough time in this situation. They lost five wickets early but still went on to make 227. To win the next match, we will have to work hard and improve a fair bit. We have to really improve our fielding, and our death-over
and Powerplay bowling. After these (changes to the) ODI rules especially, we have to improve the bowling,” shared Misbah.
Getting off to a shaky start, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Azhar-Ali-c46890, who was caught out. Nonetheless a stand of 112 between opener Nasir
Jamshed and the experienced http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Younis-Khan-c98325 stabilised the proceedings.
Critical of Pakistan’s runs chase, the 38-year-old said, “We have to improve our batting performances; we couldn't chase the target down easily.”
The track at MA Chidambaram Stadium had significant bounce and movement for the fast bowlers upfront. While admitting the importance of winning the toss, Misbah shared that it was the prime effort of Junaid that gave Pakistan a head-start.
The resumption in bilateral ties after 5 years saw the opening T20 series end in a draw. However, winnings the first ODI will boost the confidence of the Men in Green, who will look to repeat the winning performance in Kolkata (on Thursday) to achieve a
series win.
Tags: