Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik rues poor finishing by batsmen as SA win second T20 and take series

Waseem Ahmed 21:52 03/02/2019
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  • Shoaib Malik.

    Pakistan stand-in captain Shoaib Malik said his players need to quickly learn how to close out matches after his team lost a second successive T20 game by a slender margin to surrender the series to the Proteas.

    Captain David Miller led South Africa to a dramatic seven-run victory over Pakistan in Johannesburg as the hosts took an unassailable 2-0 lead in their T20 series. Miller, leading the team in the absence of the rested Faf du Plessis, blasted an unbeaten 65 off just 29 balls, including five sixes and four fours, as his side posted 188-3 from their 20 overs having been put in by the tourists.

    Pakistan’s reply got off to an impressive start, reaching 147 from 16 overs for just the loss of opener Fakhar Zaman.

    However, the departure of Babar Azam, who hit 13 fours and a six in his 58-ball knock of 90, sparked a collapse with Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Imad Wasim, Malik and Hasan Ali all following in short order as they lost six wickets for just 34 runs inside the final 24 balls to slump to 181-7.

    Malik said the team – which before this series held the enviable record of 11 successive successful chases in T20s – needs to understand the importance of finishing off the job early.

    “This time we had the game, but we couldn’t hit the last couple of boundaries. The game shouldn’t have gone to the 20th over when you have so many wickets in hand,” Malik said.

    “When you hit so many boundaries, the set batsman should finish the game. Finishing crucial games is where we’re lacking. We’re going to sit and talk about it, particularly the last overs,” the veteran all-rounder added.

    Proteas skipper Miller hit a breathtaking 65 off just 29 balls and in the end that proved to be a winning contribution. Malik credited Miller for delivering when it really mattered.

    “Miller was struggling throughout the series, but he’s a class player. He took the game away from us. We were in the game until the 15th over. Later we were expecting to chase about 180 but we gave away some extra runs.”

    Pakistan went down by six runs in the first T20 and have now lost the Test (3-0) and ODI series (3-2) on their tour of South Africa.

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