Archive photo by Wasim Akaram
Legendary pacer Wasim Akram slammed Pakistan for their “pathetic performance” against USA in their Super Over defeat and said it will be difficult for Babar Azam's side to qualify for the knockout stages of the T20 World Cup. Pakistan and USA had scored 159 each in regular time before the latter successfully defended 18 runs in the Super Over to register a famous victory here on Thursday. “Pathetic performance. Winning and losing is part of the game. But you have to fight till the last ball. It was bad for Pakistan cricket,” Akram told Star Sports.
“Pakistan will now find it difficult to qualify for the Super Eight as they will have to face India (on June 9) and two other good teams (Ireland and Canada),” he added.
The linchpin of Pakistan's 1992 World Cup triumph felt the turning point of the match was the United States taking the first wickets.
Pakistan stuttered to 30 for three at the end of the Power Play and from then on they struggled to gain momentum despite skipper Babar and Shadab Khan adding 72 runs for the fourth wicket.
“The turning point of the match… the way USA got the first wickets. Pakistan had a small partnership between Babar and Shadab and then no one showed up. The fielding was below average, the Pakistan's overall cricket was average,” he said.
Akram, a master of death bowling in his playing days, said conceding 18 runs in the Super Over dashed Pakistan's hopes.
“Playing against USA I was confident, all the Pakistan fans were confident that they would win after the way they played in the first innings.
“In the second innings, they (USA) came out chasing…I mean, getting 19 runs in the Super Over is like getting 36 runs in a Super Over. Well done USA” , did he declare.
Akram praised US captain Monank Patel for marshaling his bowling resources and making a match-winning fifty.
“The moment of the day for me was American captain Monank Patel's innings, the way he batted…carried his bat.
“The way he used his suit, he led from the front. Their fielding was perfect every time, and the USA cricket was very impressive,” he added.
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