Melbourne, November 13
Pakistan captain Babar Azam believes the injury to pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi cost them victory in the final.
Having begun their campaign with defeats by India and Zimbabwe, the 2009 champions looked set to exit the tournament but still made the semifinals after the Netherlands did them a huge favour by pulling off an upset win over South Africa.
Pakistan strung together four victories on the trot to make the final but managed a meagre 137/8 today. Their lion-hearted bowlers reduced England to 45/3 in the sixth over but Afridi hurt his right knee in the 13th over when taking a catch at long-off to dismiss Harry Brook.
“We were probably 20 runs short with the bat but we started well with the ball in the first six overs and made a comeback in the middle overs,” Azam said.
“Unfortunately, Shaheen got injured and that shifted the match in England’s favour. It could have been a different result but for Shaheen’s injury,” he added.
Afridi, whose two-over spell of 1/13 included the wicket of England’s in-form opener Alex Hales, returned to the field after getting treatment but could bowl only one delivery before hobbling off.
Azam expressed his happiness with the way his team returned from the brink of elimination to reach the final. “We did not start well but we grabbed our opportunity and won four matches,” he said. “It’s always sad to reach the final and not win, and we had the same outcome in the Asia Cup. But of course we are proud we made the final.”
He felt they were sluggish in the middle overs and eventually settled for a below-par total. “We were going steady in the first 11 overs but losing back-to-back wickets robbed us of momentum,” he said. — Reuters
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