Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq had his bowlers to thank for
keeping the team alive in the ICC World Cup following a 20-run win
against Zimbabwe on Sunday. Batting first, the Pakistanis put up a
sub-standard 235 for 7, after which they needed Mohammad Irfan and Wahab
Riaz’s heroics to keep Zimbabwe at bay. At the post-match presentation,
Misbah breathed a big sigh of relief to have at last registered their
first win in three matches.
“It was really tough, because it was make or break for us. We were in a must-win situation. You can’t believe how happy we are, because we would be out of the tournament if we lost this game,” Misbah exulted.
Talking about the team’s batting, Misbah, who made 73 and helped the innings recover from 4 for 2, said, “Pitch wasn’t easy, it was holding up, it was a bit two-paced. When I went there I found it really difficult to rotate the strike. I was thinking if we could get to 250-260 it would be really challenging, because we had five regular bowlers. We were 15-20 runs short after losing those wickets, but the kind of quality the bowlers showed, the fielding was also good, credit should be given to the fast bowlers, the way they bowled today.”
Misbah was all praise for Irfan whose three quick wickets at the top went a long way towards derailing the Zimbabwean chase. “When there is extra bounce, Irfan is the kind of bowler, if somebody hasn’t faced him before, it can be really difficult, especially in Australian conditions. We need to really work hard, because we need to improve our batting. Other teams are getting to 300, 280, 290. We need to start well and capitalise,” Misbah said.
Another player who along with Irfan set up the win was Riaz who displayed his all-round side (54* and 4 for 45), becoming the first Pakistan pacer to score a fifty and take four wickets in a match since Abdul Razzaq’s 63* and 4 for 53 against Australia in Perth in 2005. “The discussion [with Misbah] was to play all 50 overs and if we take chances, we will do that in the last three or four overs, and rotate the strike till then. The team management are working really hard with me, they believe I can do something with my batting. Thanks to them and thanks to Almighty Allah,” Riaz said after picking the Man-of-the-Match award.
“At the start the ball was not coming on to the bat, not going through quickly, but we had to work hard, I think the way the fast bowlers and Shahid Afridi bowled, credit has to go to us. We know there were not many runs on the board and Irfan bowled really well. I want to dedicate this trophy to my dad and my mum. They will be really happy.”
Meanwhile, Misbah’s opposite number Elton Chigumbura, who came into bat at No 8 because of a quadricep injury he picked up while fielding earlier in the day, was disappointed to have wasted a golden opportunity after the bowlers did such a good job. “I’m still to go for a scan, I will know tomorrow morning. Today the bowling was much better, thought we executed well, but we gave away too many extras, if you are being critical about our bowling,” he said.
“It’s disappointing to lose a game like this when we felt we had a good chance of winning. Hamilton getting out was the turning point. We have to learn from this. We haven’t had one guy scoring a hundred and carrying us through. That’s where we need to improve.”
“It was really tough, because it was make or break for us. We were in a must-win situation. You can’t believe how happy we are, because we would be out of the tournament if we lost this game,” Misbah exulted.
Talking about the team’s batting, Misbah, who made 73 and helped the innings recover from 4 for 2, said, “Pitch wasn’t easy, it was holding up, it was a bit two-paced. When I went there I found it really difficult to rotate the strike. I was thinking if we could get to 250-260 it would be really challenging, because we had five regular bowlers. We were 15-20 runs short after losing those wickets, but the kind of quality the bowlers showed, the fielding was also good, credit should be given to the fast bowlers, the way they bowled today.”
Misbah was all praise for Irfan whose three quick wickets at the top went a long way towards derailing the Zimbabwean chase. “When there is extra bounce, Irfan is the kind of bowler, if somebody hasn’t faced him before, it can be really difficult, especially in Australian conditions. We need to really work hard, because we need to improve our batting. Other teams are getting to 300, 280, 290. We need to start well and capitalise,” Misbah said.
Another player who along with Irfan set up the win was Riaz who displayed his all-round side (54* and 4 for 45), becoming the first Pakistan pacer to score a fifty and take four wickets in a match since Abdul Razzaq’s 63* and 4 for 53 against Australia in Perth in 2005. “The discussion [with Misbah] was to play all 50 overs and if we take chances, we will do that in the last three or four overs, and rotate the strike till then. The team management are working really hard with me, they believe I can do something with my batting. Thanks to them and thanks to Almighty Allah,” Riaz said after picking the Man-of-the-Match award.
“At the start the ball was not coming on to the bat, not going through quickly, but we had to work hard, I think the way the fast bowlers and Shahid Afridi bowled, credit has to go to us. We know there were not many runs on the board and Irfan bowled really well. I want to dedicate this trophy to my dad and my mum. They will be really happy.”
Meanwhile, Misbah’s opposite number Elton Chigumbura, who came into bat at No 8 because of a quadricep injury he picked up while fielding earlier in the day, was disappointed to have wasted a golden opportunity after the bowlers did such a good job. “I’m still to go for a scan, I will know tomorrow morning. Today the bowling was much better, thought we executed well, but we gave away too many extras, if you are being critical about our bowling,” he said.
“It’s disappointing to lose a game like this when we felt we had a good chance of winning. Hamilton getting out was the turning point. We have to learn from this. We haven’t had one guy scoring a hundred and carrying us through. That’s where we need to improve.”
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