Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi admitted he and his players were battling grief throughout their one-day international defeat to New
The ‘hosts’ took to the field in the UAE capital with their nation in mourning a little more than 24 hours after Taliban extremists killed 141 people, mostly children, at a Peshawar school.
The Pakistanis fell seven runs short in chasing a target of 300 – despite Younis Khan’s first ODI century since 2008 – as New Zealand levelled the series 2-2.
And Afridi said post-match that his side had struggled to cope with their emotions following Tuesday’s events.
"It was a tragic event for the whole nation,” said Afridi. “The boys were really shaken by what they heard and they played the game half-heartedly.
We tried to do our best so that we could win and try and lessen the grief of the families affected by the Peshawar tragedy
but it wasn’t to be.”
The tragic prelude to the match raised questions as to whether it should go ahead, with the Pakistan Cricket Board ultimately deciding the match should be played.
Meanwhile, Afridi’s opposite number, Kane Williamson, rubbished suggestions that New Zealand didn’t want to postpone the match.
“We were very much in support of what the Pakistan Board wanted to do and accepted whatever decision they took,” he said.
The result sets up a series decider in Abu Dhabi on Friday as Pakistan missed the chance to take a 3-1 lead and coach Waqar Younis believes his side’s poor fielding was the main reason for their loss.
“We batted well and bowled well but in the end we eventually lost because of the fielding. We gifted them 20 or 25 runs extra.”
Despite Younis Khan’s knock of 103, his coach added that it was too early to say whether the 37-year-old will be included in the World Cup squad.
“He played very well. There is one more match remaining in the series, and the 15-man squad hasn’t been selected," he added.
"The series is there to be won and Younis has been working well and so have the rest of the team. The 15-man squad will only be after the match.”
Meanwhile, Williamson was pleased with the manner of his side’s victory, claiming that their resurgence will make Friday's clash one to savour.
“It was nice to bounce back from Sharjah and was a muchimproved performance. Obviously there are some things that we need
to improve on and it will be a tough fight on Friday.”
And he praised fast bowler Adam Milne who took the crucial wicket of Afridi, saying: “Milne was very good. He bowled very fast and picked up the key wicket of Shahid and was very good for us today.
"He’s a very good talent and it’s good to see a good crop of players coming up.”
Earlier in the day the PCB had announced that all proceeds from the match would go to those affected by the Peshawar tragedy.
“The PCB will donate proceeds of the match to the families of the martyred and towards rebuilding the school,” said a board spokesman.
Pakistan have been playing their ‘home’ matches in the UAE since the terrorist attack on a Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in 2009 forced them to play outside the country.
The spokesman added: “We are playing outside Pakistan only because of the threat of terrorism at home. If we allow terrorists to disrupt our matches abroad, then all will be lost.”
