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MANCHESTER, June 18: Pakistan captain Rashid Latif praised his team’s “positive attitude” after they beat England by just two wickets their opening One-day International.
“We won the match because of our positive attitude and some good bowling in the middle order by Shoaib Malik (who took a one-day best three for 26) and Mohammad Hafeez.”
Pakistan restricted England to a below par 204 for nine after the hosts won the toss in this day/night encounter and only some careless batting at the end turned what should have been a comfortable victory into a close match.
“The ball lost its colour and became difficult to see under the lights. Had this match been played in the day we would have won easily,” Rashid insisted.
He added: “Our strategy for the game was to target the middle order because we knew Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick are experienced players and we succeeded in what we were trying to do.”
Hafeez top scored with a one-day best 69 and afterwards he said: “I just followed the tips from my coach (Javed Miandad) who said to stay in and hit the loose ball.”
Michael Vaughan, in his first senior match as England’s one-day captain, said: “We let ourselves down with our batting. We were 30-40 runs short. But the way the young lads fought at the death, with the batting and the bowling was excellent.”
He added: “Hafeez was the difference. We had guys who made 20s or 30s (Andrew Flintoff was England’s top scorer with 39). We had the best of the pitch and should have got 250.”
Pakistan were without suspended fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, completing a two-match ban for ball-tampering.
But Rashid said that while he’s like him back in the side, this win showed that Pakistan were more than a one-man team.
“I will be delighted if Shoaib is back but this was a collective effort. I don’t want us to rely on one person.”
At the end of the match there was a mass invasion by Pakistan fans, despite pre-match pleas from Rashid to stay off the field.
A large part of the crowd, brandishing Pakistan colours, cheered them home. “It was like playing in Lahore or Karachi,” the Pakistan said.
In scenes reminiscent of Pakistan’s last one-day series in England, in 2001, stewards were overwhelmed by the sheer weight of numbers.
A concerned Vaughan said: “Someone in the hierarchy should look at because one of these days a player is going to get hurt.
“I hope it never happens but it only takes just one of them to have an object in their hands.”—AFP
