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Pakistan lost the sixth match of their seven-match series against England by eight wickets, with skipper Babar Azam's efforts coming in vain in Lahore on Friday, September 30. Batting first after having lost the toss, Pakistan put up a low total of 169/6 with Babar playing a classy knock of 87 runs off 59 balls by virtue of which Pakistan was able to post a respectable target of 170.
England, from the onset, took the attack to the Pakistani bowlers making light work of the chase and chalking it up in just 14.3 overs. The chase came at a canter chiefly by Phil Salt who overshadowed Babar’s knock with an unbeaten 88 off 41 deliveries along with Alex Hales blasting at the same rate and played a knock of 27 runs from 12 balls before being dismissed. The duo forged a partnership of 55 runs in just 3.4 overs gaining a head start against the run of play.
The skipper of Pakistan in a PCB video succinctly explained the reason for the loss and asserted that batting becomes easier in the second half. He pins the loss on the dew factor which makes the ball wet and ‘soapy’ and hard for the spinners and pacers to bowl but must take nothing away from the batting master class from England.
“The first six overs made the difference, the way they utilised them. The ball became wet because of dew and the spinners and fast bowlers found it tough to grip it. In the second innings, the ball also came on nicely to the bat when there was dew. The ball became soapy and it became tough for bowlers”
Babar credited both the English batters (Hales and Salt) for their blazing knocks and capitalising on the new ball with overs early on and providing England with the impetus with a fast start.
“Credit should go to Salt and Hales for giving England momentum with a fast start,” Babar said in a video, uploaded on Pakistan Cricket’s Twitter handle.
In his final statement, Babar concluded that his boys must put this game down to experience and learn from it and not be put off by the loss.
“As a team, such situations will come and you will have to face them. We played previous matches and won and shouldn’t lose our confidence. At the end of the day, you have to talk and discuss mistakes so that you don’t repeat them in the next match,” he added.
The seventh and decider T20I will be played on October 2, Sunday in Lahore.
