LEEDS: Pakistan captain Babar Azam has said that the bowlers on his side gave away too many runs which resulted in the team’s loss in the second T20 against England played at Old Trafford, Manchester.
In the post-match conference Sunday, the skipper said that after the first partnership, the batsmen could not hold on to the momentum.
Set a 201-run target by England, Pakistan were restricted to 155 for nine in their 20 overs. Openers Azam and Mohammad Rizwan added 50 runs in 5.4 overs before the skipper was dismissed by Saqib Mahmood for 22.
After Azam’s dismissal, Pakistan’s chase fell away as the tourists lost wickets at regular intervals. Sohaib Maqsood (15), Mohammad Hafeez (10), Fakhar Zaman (8) and Azam Khan (1) fell to England’s spin bowling trio of Adil Rashid, Mark Parkinson and Moeen Ali.
Rizwan top-scored for the side with 37 off 29 balls. Shadab Khan remained undefeated on 36 off 22 balls (two fours, three sixes). Imad Wasim contributed 20 runs for England, Saqib took three wickets for 33 while Adil and Moeen took two wickets each conceding 30 and 32 runs respectively.
Admitting failures in the field, Azam said that they would not repeat their mistakes in the next match and would try to play good cricket.
Vice-captain Shadab Khan gave credit to the English team for exploiting the conditions in a better way adding that Pakistan had Mohammad Hafeez as a spin bowling option, but the situation was not such that he could be asked to bowl.
The three-match series is now levelled 1-1 while the final match will be played at Old Trafford, Manchester on Tuesday, July 20.
