Pakistan captain Babar Azam admitted that they were 20 runs short of a par score but hailed his bowlers for putting up a show after they lost the T20 World Cup final by five wickets against England in front of more than 80,000 people at the iconic MCG on Sunday.
Pakistan could only manage an under-par score of 137 runs on the board after they were put into bat by England’s skipper Jos Buttler. Mohammad Rizwan was dismissed cheaply by Sam Curran and Pakistan batters could not get the momentum on their side.
The Men in Green could score only 39-1 in the PowerPlay overs and they also could not change gears in the middle overs. Shan Masood top-scored with 38 runs off 28 balls but he was dismissed at the wrong time for Pakistan.
Sam Curran and Adil Rashid took five wickets and conceded 34 runs in the eight overs they bowled collectively.
However, Pakistan was able to bounce back strong with the ball as Shaheen Shah Afridi dismissed Alex Hales in the first over. Phil Salt was then dismissed by Haris Rauf while the gun fast bowler also accounted for in-form Jos Buttler to put Pakistan back in the contest.
But Ben Stokes, the man of the finals for England, stayed calm at the crease and absorbed all the pressure. Stokes added a vital partnership of 39 runs with Harry Brook before Moeen Ali played a vital cameo of 13-ball 19.
Shaheen Shah Afridi was injured while taking Harry Brook’s catch and Babar Azam feels it was the turning point of the game. Azam believes the result could have been different if Afridi hadn’t gotten injured.
Babar Azam said in the post-match presentation, “Congratulations to England, they deserve to be champions and fought well. We felt at home here, and got great support at every venue. Thanks for your support. Yes, we lost the first two games but how we came in the last four games was incredible. I just told the boys to play our natural game, but we fell 20 runs short and the boys fought well with the ball. Our bowling is one of the best attacks in the world. Unfortunately, Shaheen’s injury put us off, but that’s part of the game.”
Pakistan was brilliant with the ball as their fast bowlers were right on the money. However, they fell short of a par score, which led to their loss.
