Pakistan’s young pacer Naseem Shah was left in tears after he could not take the team over the line. As Pakistan lost the match by six runs in the run chase of 120 at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, Naseem was inconsolable. His teammate Shaheen Afridi walked up to him and put his around the shoulder.
Naseem’s cameo not enough
Naseem walked in to bat when Pakistan were 102/7 in the last over. They ended 18 runs from five balls after Imad Wasim lost his wicket to Arshdeep Singh. Naseem took a single off the first ball he faced. As Shaheen Afridi gave the strike back to him, Pakistan needed 16 runs from last three balls. Naseem played the scoop shot for a boundary followed by a boundary towards covers. In the end, his four-ball 10 was not enough to take Pakistan over the line.
Naseem’s sensational bowling
Earlier, Naseem was exceptional with the bat. He got the wicket of Virat Kohli with the third ball of his first over. After the powerplay overs, he got the wicket of Axar Patel and then dismissed Shivam Dube. He conceded 21 runs in his quota of four overs and helped Pakistan bowl out India for 119 in 19 overs.
What Babar said after the defeat
Babar lauded the bowlers for their effort for causing a collapse.
“We bowled well. In the batting, lost back to back wickets and had too much dot balls. Tactics was simple to play normally. Just strike rotation and the odd boundary. But in that period we had too many dot balls. Can't expect much from tailenders,” he said.
He accepted that Pakistan were not up to the mark in the first six overs.
“Our mind was to utilise first overs in batting. But one wicket down, and again we weren't up to the mark in first six. Pitch looked decent. Ball was coming on nicely. It was a little bit slow, and some balls extra bounce. Have to win last two matches. Will sit and discuss our mistakes but looking forward to last two matches,” he added.
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