Although the target of 120 seemed tough for Pakistan head coach Gary Kirsten, he felt the 2009 champions almost had victory in their hands at 72 for two with eight overs to spare in the T20 World Cup match against India in New York on Sunday. But it was the calm shown by the Jasprit Bumrah-inspired bowling attack that helped India seize the momentum and secure a narrow six-run victory even as batting conditions improved over the course of the second innings.
“A disappointing loss, that’s for sure,” Kirsten said. “I knew 120 was not going to be an easy target. If India got just 120, it wouldn’t always be the easiest. But I think we had the game at 72 for 2 with six or seven overs left. It’s disappointing not to be able to cross the line. line from the position we are in.”
Mohammad Rizwan alone led Pakistan’s chase in the first half of the innings with his well-fought 31 off 44, but in a moment of absolute brain fade, the keeper-batsman gave away his wicket while attempting to hit Bumrah’s first ball in his new spell. The bowler, who won the Man of the Match award, also successively dismissed Iftikhar Ahmed in that tremendous spell, to finish with winning figures of 3 for 14, which comprised 11 dot balls.
Kirsten felt that Pakistan’s loss was due to poor decision making and that they paid the price for it.
“Maybe the decision making is not so good. You have the game going, you run a ball, eight wickets in your hand, you make decisions at that moment. That’s the game. That’s international cricket for you. If you make mistakes mistakes like that, you’re going to I think we made some bad decisions in important phases of the game. I thought Rizwan played well for us. We knew it was going to be a difficult ground to attack. We handled the chase very well, but then we let him get away. final,” said the former South Africa cricketer, who had coached the Indian team to win the ODI World Cup in 2011.
Pakistan will take on Canada on June 11 in New York before ending their group stage campaign on June 16 against Ireland in Lauderhill.
