Follow UsPakistan began their campaign on a disastrous note in their first ICC tournament at home after the 1996 ODI World Cup, losing their first game of the ICC Champions Trophy against New Zealand by 60 runs.
Batting first, New Zealand made 320/5 in their 50 overs as Tom Latham (118* off 104) and Will Young (107 off 113) scored twin tons. Glenn Phillips also played a quick-fire knock of 61 off just 39 deliveries, which helped the BlackCaps score 113 runs in the last 10 overs.
Pakistan’s chase, meanwhile, had a really poor start as they could score only 22/2 in the first 10 overs. Fakhar Zaman, who generally is tasked with providing quick starts to Pakistan in the powerplay, couldn’t open the innings as usual, and Babar played an excruciatingly slow knock of 64 off 90 deliveries in a chase that required Pakistan to bat at more than a run a ball.
“We couldn't start the batting well, which is why we couldn't create momentum. Which is why we couldn't make the runs,” Salman Ali Agha accepted at the post-match press conference.
“I think, if you look at the full innings, there was no momentum. When you're chasing 320, you have to make a partnership. And you need momentum in that. So, it didn't work out. The wickets kept falling. We didn’t play the way we should have. So, I think because of that we couldn’t win.
“Because if you're chasing 320, you have to put in a good partnership and go somewhere and create momentum in the game. So, we couldn't do that in this match. If we don't do that, it's difficult to chase 320.”
Agha pointed out that Fakhar’s absence in the opening position affected Pakistan’s batting strategy quite a bit, and blamed the poor start for the lack of intent in the chase.
“Fakhar's absence is also a point because you will see in the last 5-6 years, or even more than that, Fakhar is such a power player in our team, who utilizes power play, no one does better than him in the last 5-6 years,” the allrounder said.
“In power play, we did not even have 30 runs, so if we don't have that many runs then it’s difficult.”
The Pakistan vice-captain scored 42 off just 28 deliveries and, along with Khushdil Shah, looked like the only Pakistani batter batting with the intent to chase down the total. However, he also felt that in hindsight, he should have extended his innings a bit longer.
“Then when I came, I had the idea that I would have to go for one ball and take the high risk,” Agha said.
“But I still feel that I could have extended the swing a little more. And you never know, if I had extended it a little longer, the result could have been anything.”
The Lahore-based cricketer also reiterated Mohammad Rizwan’s words from an earlier press conference, in which he accepted that Pakistan’s inconsistency on the cricket field is due to a lack of professionalism as a team.
“If you talk about professionalism, it comes from consistency. We are not able to perform consistently,” Agha said.
“We win one match and then lose another. So, if you want to be in any team in the world or be in a good team or beat them continuously, you have to have consistency. So that's a discipline we need to work on.”
Agha also defended the fitness of Haris Rauf who was making a comeback after an injury hiatus and gave away 83 runs in his 10 overs. Meanwhile, he asked everyone to wait for scans to reveal the fitness status of Fakhar.
“He [Rauf] was 100% fit. Whether the bowling was good or bad is a different story. But he was 100% fit. He bowled with his physio yesterday and the day before. I think he was 100% fit,” the right-hander said.
“I don't have an idea about Fakhar Zaman, because we'll have to scan him. You will get to know about that soon.”
After this big loss, which saw their NRR (net run rate) dip to -1.2, Pakistan will now go against India on February 23 in a really crucial encounter.