Pakistan’s batting collapse against South Africa leave Misbah-ul-Haq dazed – Cricket News
After losing their second successive match in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy, the tournament is almost over for Pakistan. The two losses were completely unexpected, as they failed to finish off these games
after a commendable start, which has left the Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq wondering just where the fault lines are at the moment.
“The batsmen were in form in the practice games but I don't know what happened. The pitch was a little slow, but we could have chased it,” he said.
The right-hand batsman further said, “It was a good bowling effort, 234 was getable. You needed 4.5 an over, we could not knock it around or rotate.”
Misbah scored 55 runs, as he desperately tried to anchor Pakistan’s innings in pursuit of 235 runs in 50 overs. However, Pakistan lacked a solid plan and their unpredictable batting became yet another reason
for them to see the game slip out of their hands.
Opener Imran Farhat could score only two runs before he was removed, with his side lingering on just four runs. This put the Pakistanis on the back foot, as it was imperative for them to start big in order to
successfully reach the required target. Mohammad Hafeez continued his bad run with the bat and went to the pavilion after scoring only seven runs.
With Hafeez unsuccessful, Pakistan weren’t left with much options and the unimpressive knock of eight off 29 by Shoaib Malik didn’t do any good to the team either. Nasir Jamshed and Misah then tried to keep Pakistan’s
hopes alive, as the two batsmen led their side towards 86 runs, before Lonwabo Tsotsobe trashed the party by grabbing the wicket of Jamshed, who fell after hammering a 42-run knock. The wicket of Misbah with Pakistan on 148 was the last nail in the coffin.
Pakistan will now play their next match against arch rivals India on June 15 in a bid to salvage some pride.
“We need to forget about these two games before we meet India,” said Misbah.
Meanwhile, South African skipper AB de Villiers was overwhelmed by South Africa’s success and commended his side’s brilliant performance.
“The victory is sweet. We got more than 200 against a quality attack on a tough wicket. The three spinners bowled very well. I wasn't happy with 234, we set it up so well to get to 270 even,” said the South African
captain.
The Proteas will next face Team West Indies and need to win to stay alive in the tournament.
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