Dubai: Pakistan captain Babar Azam has credited his bowlers for a brilliant performance that helped his team defeat Afghanistan by five wickets in a Group 2 match at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup here and maintain their position at the top of the points table.
Though it was captain Azam’s fighting fifty (51 off 47) and Asif Ali’s cameo (25 off 7) that powered Pakistan to a convincing five-wicket win over Afghanistan in the super 12 match, the Pakistan skipper said the bowlers deserve credit for executing their plans brilliantly that helped them restrict Afghanistan to a chasable total.
“The bowlers bowled brilliantly at the start, but I think we gave 10-15 runs too many away,” Babar Azam said after the match Friday night.
“We had to bowl according to the situation and see how to bowl to each batter. The bowlers deserve credit for executing those plans brilliantly,” said the Pakistan skipper.
He, however, felt his team did not make good use of the Powerplay when batting.
“We didn’t quite use the Powerplay as well as we hoped but Asif and Shoaib Malik at the death were brilliant. The way Asif’s played many innings at the PSL, I was very confident he’d get us out of any trouble we find ourselves in.
Babar also praised Asif Ali for keeping nerves in the last few overs. Needing 24 off the last two overs, Ali smashed four sixes to seal the win for Pakistan in 19 overs with five wickets in hand.
“The spinners were getting a lot of help, and because Afghanistan have some of the best pinners, they were getting a lot of help and bowling really well. I wanted to stay till the end but got out, unfortunately. So credit to Asif Ali,” Babar Azam said.
