Pakistan skipper reacts to shocking loss against USA at T20 World Cup 2024 We should have defended the total
Pakistan faced a shocking defeat at the hands of hosts USA at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas. In a closely fought contest, the Men in Green suffered a humiliating 5 run defeat at the hands of host in their opening match.
Soon after the match, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam came down heavily on the Pakistan bowlers for not sticking to their lines and lengths. Azam also stated that the total of 159 should have been defended given their bowling prowress.
Speaking to the presentors after the match, Babar said, “Even in the second innings, I think we also got help, but we were not up to the mark in terms of our bowling areas. We lacked in that in the first ten overs. We came back after that but they had already taken the momentum. But given the bowlers we have, we should have defended that total. On this pitch, I think it was a defendable total for our bowling.”
“We are better than that in the bowling. We did not take wickets in the first six overs. In the middle overs, if your spinner is not taking wickets, then the pressure is on you. After ten overs, we did come back but I think the way they finished game in the Super Over, the credit goes to the US team.” the Pakistani skipper added.
Notably, asked in to bat first, Pakistan had a shaky start and lost 3 crucial wickets of Usman Khan, Mohammed Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman inside the first 6 overs. However, Shadab Khan and skipper Babar Azam then stitched together a partnership that did help Pakistan put a respectable total on the board. However, USA batters led from the front by skipper Monank Patel matched Pakistan’s total and took the clash to the Super Over.
USA’s Aaron Jones got the better of Mohammed Amir in the Super Over as he managed to get 18 runs inside the six balls. In reply, Pakistan could only score 13 runs in their 6 balls and lost the match by 5 runs at the end.
