T20 WC 2021: How Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam carried Pakistan to 189 after early struggle : Rashtra News
Opting
to
bat,
Pakistan
were
off
to
a
sedate
start
with
just
59
runs
on
the
board
at
the
halfway
mark,
but
the
opening
duo
of
skipper
Babar
Azam
and
Rizwan
ended
up
adding
113
runs
to
propel
their
team
to
189
for
two
in
the
Super
12
match.
“It
was
difficult
to
start
off.
We
had
difficulty
understanding
the
conditions
early
on,
hitting
too
was
difficult
so
the
plan
was
to
take
the
game
deep,”
Rizwan
who
was
adjudged
Man
of
the
Match
for
his
50-ball
knock
said.
He
credited
senior
batter
Mohammad
Hafeez
for
his
cameo
off
32
from
16
balls,
which
allowed
him
to
settle
down
before
going
for
the
kill
in
the
final
over,
which
yielded
24
runs.
“Initially
the
shot
was
not
coming.
I
just
had
to
bide
my
time.
I
had
to
wait
for
the
opportunity
and
Hafeez
bhai
gave
me
the
momentum
so
I
could
take
off
in
the
final
over.”
The
2009
champions
are
now
in
the
semifinals,
having
won
four
matches
on
the
trot.
“All
the
boxes
are
ticked
for
the
tournament,
and
now
I
think
we
are
in
with
a
fighting
chance,”
he
said
about
their
chances.”
Earlier,
Pakistan
skipper
Babar
Azam
surprised
many
with
his
decision
to
bat
after
winning
the
toss.
The
match
against
the
associate
nation
was
an
opportunity
to
rest
one
or
two
of
the
regulars,
but
Babar
went
for
an
unchanged
XI.
The
skipper
said
he
wanted
to
test
their
batting
and
it
all
worked
as
they
ticked
the
boxes
going
ahead.
“It
was
a
different
plan
today,
wanted
that
opening
partnership
to
go
deep
and
it
worked
for
us.
Two
good
players
in
Hafeez
and
Hasan
Ali,
they’ll
be
important
in
the
next
stage
and
it
was
important
we
ticked
those
boxes.
“There
was
some
dew
that
didn’t
help
with
the
fielding,
but
that’s
not
an
excuse,
we
need
to
be
better.
Everything
has
gone
according
to
plan,
we’re
looking
forward
to
the
semi-finals
and
playing
our
cricket
with
the
same
intensity.”
Namibian
skipper
Gerhard
Erasmus
said
they
were
well
aware
of
Pakistan’s
strengths.
“We
knew
from
the
start
that
Pakistan
are
high
quality,
they
look
like
title
contenders,
we
knew
we’d
have
to
compete
hard
and
I
thought
we
did
that
for
quite
a
while.
“Pakistan
were
outstanding
with
their
shot
selection
and
their
quality
showed
through
the
back
end
of
the
innings.”
The
skipper,
who
had
a
sore
finger,
added:
“Finger’s
sore
but
you
have
to
get
through,
it’s
a
real
milestone
for
cricket
in
Namibia.”
( News Source :Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Rashtra News staff and is published from a www.mykhel.com feed.)
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