In a game which Pakistan had to win to reach the final, they were reduced to 55/5 against Bangladesh. It was some brilliant bowling from the latter and some ordinary shot selection from the former, but Pakistan, through cameos from Mohammad Nawaz and Mohammad Haris at the end, managed to make a sub-par 135 runs on the board, which felt short during the halfway mark. But in the second half, Pakistan brought their A-game to the table with the likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf upping their game to a level that the Bangladesh batters could not cope with.
“If you win these kind of games, then we must be a special team. Everyone played really well. There is some improvement needed in batting. But we will work on that,” Agha said at the presentation. “Very excited. We know what we need to do, and we are a good enough team to beat anyone, and we will come on Sunday and try to beat them,” the skipper added on facing India in the final.
Shaheen broke the chase for Bangladesh, picking up two wickets in the power play. He ended up with the figures of 3/17 from four overs and judged the Player Of The Match. “Shaheen is a special player. He does what the team needs of him. Very happy for him. We were 15 runs short. The way we bowled up front, we will create pressure. We bowled well with the new ball. More often than not you will win games if you bowl like this,” he said.
Additionally, Pakistan also managed to be quite efficient on the field. “We have been fielding well… We have been having extra sessions. Mike Hesson said if you can’t field, you won’t be in the team.” “Early on, as a team, we need breakthroughs and I go for that. In a small total, you need early breakthroughs and we planned that. Three overs in the powerplay – that is the difference,” Afridi said.
The postSalman Agha confident on beating India in Asia Cup final: ‘We must be a special team…we are a good enough team to beat anyone’ | Cricket News appeared first on Indian Express
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