An unpredictable Pakistani team lost their second game and slipped to 8th position in the points table of the ongoing cricket world cup in England and Wales. In an overcast conditions in Taunton, Pakistan won the toss and chose to bowl first which was proven wrong by a 146 run opening stand by David Warner(107) and Aaron Finch(82). Australia was cruising to a total of over 350 runs but the collapse of middle order didn’t help their cause and they were bowled out in 49 overs at 307 runs. Pakistani pacer Mohammad Amir was the pick of the bowlers with 5/30.
In a chase of 308 runs, Pakistan lost Fakhar Zaman(0) early in the chase. With the wickets of Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik and Asif Ali, Pakistan was struggling at 160/6 at one stage. At the cusp of defeat, Pakistani lower order changed the complexion as Hasan Ali chipped in with an innings of 32 runs of 15 balls followed by a 45 off 39 balls by Wahab Riaz.
Pakistani lower order alongside skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed cruised close to the target as the panic button was “on” in the Australian camp. After the fall of Hasan and Wahab, Pakistani batsman could not do much and were bowled out for 266 runs in 45.4 overs, losing the match by 41 runs.
Sarfaraz optimistic about the game against India
Team India will lock horns against arch-rivals Pakistan in the ongoing world cup on June 16th. The two teams last played in Super four stage of Asia cup 2018, where the men in blue emerged victorious. However, after the Pulwama terror attack in February 2019, there has been a huge demand of boycotting the world cup game against Pakistan.
Pakistan has never won a world cup game against India and the latter team stands with an advantage of 6-0 in the show piece event. Pakistani skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed didn’t disclose much details about India-Pakistan clash but maintained that the team will try its best in the much hyped clash between the two fierce rivals.
“India-Pakistan is a big match so we’ll try our level best,” Sarfaraz said on Wednesday.
