Pakistan´s Shaheen Shah Afridi celebrates after taking the wicket of Australia´s Marcus Stoinis through the 2023 ICC Males´s Cricket World Cup between Australia and Pakistan on the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on October 20, 2023. — AFP
Pakistan skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi heaped plaudits on all-rounders Salman Ali Agha and Hussain Talat, in addition to pacer Haris Rauf, after their match-winning performances sealed a tense six-run overcome Sri Lanka within the opening ODI on the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Put into bat first, the Inexperienced Shirts, after getting off to a shaky begin, had slipped to 95/4 in 23.2 overs, courtesy of Wanindu Hasaranga’s triple-wicket spell.
Nonetheless, a 138-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Agha and Talat anchored their innings, whereas an unbeaten 66-run stand between the previous and Mohammad Nawaz finally steered them to a formidable whole.
Agha remained the top-scorer for the Inexperienced Shirts with an unbeaten century, making 105 off 87 deliveries with the assistance of 9 fours, adopted by Talat, who made a 63-ball 62, whereas Nawaz chipped in with 36 not out from 23 balls.
Talking on the post-match presentation, Shaheen revealed that the hosts have been initially vying to register round 250 on the board, however credited Agha and Talat for main them virtually to the 300-run mark.
“The gamers performed nicely. The best way we began and the early wicket losses… credit score goes to Agha and Talat,” mentioned Shaheen.
“The way we started with the bat, our dot-ball percentage was very high. We were looking to score 250-260 the way we started, but 300 is a big total,” he added.
The second innings adopted the identical sample as Sri Lanka have been in a dominant place till the completion of 11 overs, however Pakistan compelled a comeback via pacer Rauf, who halted their progress with three wickets in his two overs.
Haris finally returned economical bowling figures of 4/49 in his 10 overs, whereas fellow pacer Naseem Shah and fast-bowling all-rounder Faheem Shah lent priceless assist by taking two wickets every, serving to Pakistan efficiently defend the entire and edge Sri Lanka by six runs.
“But more credit goes to Haris Rauf; the way he started was really awesome. Haris is always a wicket-taker for Pakistan. He was our top performer in white-ball cricket. Haris is our main bowler,” Shaheen continued.
Notably, Haris’s fourth wicket got here with the assist of Babar Azam, who took a sensational one-handed catch at extensive slip to dismiss Sadeera Samarawickrama.
“Babar’s catch was like Superman,” Shaheen mentioned of the one-handed blinder to conclude his post-match interview with a smile.
