
(AP Photo)
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam expressed relief after securing their first victory in the T20 World Cup. He cited the challenging pitch conditions as the reason for their inability to complete the chase of 107 runs in fewer overs.
After enduring consecutive losses against the USA and India in their initial Group A matches, the match against Canada became pivotal for Pakistan.
In pursuit of a modest target, Pakistan relied on Mohammad Rizwan’s unbeaten 53 runs off as many balls and Babar’s contribution of 33 runs to achieve victory in 17.3 overs.
“Good for us, we need this win. We started well with the bowling, in the first six overs we know we had to be up to the mark,” Babar said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
“It was in our mind (to get over USA’s net run rate), to win before 14 overs but the pitch made it difficult.”
Following his composed innings of 33 runs off 33 balls, Babar Azam was caught in the slips while attempting to guide a delivery down to the third man. The dismissal left the Pakistan skipper visibly frustrated.
“Because I got out with the same shot twice (against India)! This is my shot but sometimes you need success. I’ll try my best.”
In Group A, India leads the standings with two wins in as many matches, closely followed by the USA, also with two victories. Pakistan occupies the third position with two points from three games, ahead of Canada and Ireland.
Canada captain Saad Bin Zafar expressed that batting early on the challenging wicket was tough.
“It was a bit disappointing. We wanted to play a positive brand of cricket and I think the wicket was not very helpful. It was difficult to bat early on – not a good toss to lose. We were about 25 to 30 runs short,” he said.