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RAWALPINDI: Pakistan T20I skipper Salman Ali Agha lamented powerplay wickets after the loss against Sri Lanka in the sixth match of the T20I tri-series here at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
Set a strong 185-run target, Pakistan wobbled early in the chase, courtesy of Dushmanta Chameera’s outstanding opening spell.
However, Salman Ali Agha and Usman Khan arrested the slide and built a 56-run stand. Usman’s blitz (33 off 23) took the score to 99 in 12.2 overs before another crucial 70-run stand between Agha and Mohammad Nawaz lifted the home side’s hopes.
Nonetheless, the equation went down to 10 from the final over, with Chameera having the ball in his hands.
The pacer bowled a superb over under pressure and gave only three, including the wicket of Faheem Ashraf, while Salman, who took a single on the second ball of the over, looked diminished at the other end.
Speaking after the match, Salman highlighted the shortcomings and rued wickets upfront as the main reason behind the loss.
“Where we came from, 40 for 4 – you don’t often come back and chase it down, but we went (close),” he said.
“I think it was gettable with the dew coming in, but we lost too many wickets in the powerplay and gave away too many runs in the powerplay,” Agha explained.
He mentioned his own form, noting that he would have liked to finish the game. The right-handed batter top-scored with 63* from 44, striking three sixes and four boundaries.
“If you give too many runs in the powerplay, you’ll always be chasing the game. (On personal form) I would have been happier if I had finished the game, but it was good to spend some time out in the middle,” Agha concluded.
The final of the T20I tri-series will be played between Pakistan and Sri Lanka on Saturday, 29 November at the same venue.
