Pakistan batsman Mohammad Rizwan defended his top-order’s incompetence against Hong Kong in Sharjah, saying the ball was kept short as the pitch was sluggish.
Deciding to bowl first, Hong Kong put Pakistan in a difficult position as they struggled to score runs on the board. Pakistan scored just 64 runs for 1 wicket in the first 10 overs.
Pakistan opener Babar Azam scored only 9 runs off 8 balls as he was caught and bowled by off-spinner Ehsan Khan in the third over. By the 10th over, Mohammad Rizwan was batting after scoring 31 runs and the number three batsman Fakhar Zaman scored 21 runs in 22 balls. Pakistan looked very slow in the match and looked like they would settle for a below-par total.
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However, Rizwan defended his team’s slow start against Hong Kong, saying the ball was short lived and they wanted to adjust to the conditions.
“The most important thing for us is to adjust to the conditions, even if it is T20 cricket. The ball was keeping low. We tried to kill him, but he was not landing. Then we charged the ball keeping in mind to stay short,” he said.
Whereas, Pakistan started slow but after the tenth over they changed gears. He scored 129 runs in his last 10 overs with 193 runs on the board at the end of 20 overs.
However, Ehsan once again got a break for Hong Kong after Zaman was dismissed in the 17th over. However, Rizwan went ahead and remained unbeaten on 78 off 57 balls. Rizwan hit only one six and six fours but he ensured that Pakistan kept control of their innings on the difficult pitch.
After Zaman was dismissed, Shah finalized the innings as he provided a late blitz for Pakistan with 5 sixes, four of which came in the last over itself. The last over of 29 runs helped Shah remain unbeaten on 35 off just 15 balls.
So far in the Asia Cup 2022, Rizwan is the leading run-scorer with 121 runs from 2 matches at the end of the group stage. He ended 2021 with 1,326 runs in T20I cricket and also became the first man to score 2,000 runs in T20Is in a calendar year.
He was the highest run-scorer for Pakistan in the match against Zimbabwe and believes that being a senior player, he has to take the responsibility.
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I believe in hard work… Being a senior player you have to take responsibility. You have to play for the team and there will be pressure.”
Pakistan won their second group stage match by 155 runs as Hong Kong failed miserably in the chase. His entire team was reduced to just 38 runs.
will now be seen taking action against pakistan India In the much-awaited match of the Super Four stage on Sunday (September 4).
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