IT was a perfect team effort. All the players did well and deserve appreciation. I stress on this because this was a day match and it was important that our openers gave us the right kind of platform. Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq set the cornerstone of that innings. They deserve all the credit.

Mohammad Hafeez showed there is no substitute to experience. He not only controlled and paced his innings to perfection, he rotated the strike with Babar Azam and punished the loose deliveries. It is so pleasing to see Babar develop into one of the world’s best, and I am sure the time he spent with Hafeez out in the middle would have given him more confidence and knowledge about the art of batting in big matches.

Hafeez not only enabled us to reach a total we were convinced we could defend, he also claimed the important wicket of Eoin Morgan with a peach of a delivery. If Hafeez maintains this form and Babar continues to show his flair to build on the solid starts provided by the openers, this Pakistan team will go a long way in the tournament.

All the frontline bowlers bowled well and they were well supported by the combination of Shoaib Malik and Hafeez, who between them returned impressive figures of 10-0-53-2 on the comparatively smaller ground.

Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir showed the intensity and the determination to take wickets, the main reason why they were included in the World Cup squad in the first place. Hasan Ali was equally impressive although his final figures don’t do justice to how well he bowled. Shadab Khan, as always, was a beauty.

I am sure our fans back home and those who are following us here in England and Wales will celebrate Eid in a happy mood. On behalf of the whole team, may I wish Eid Mubarak to all our fans. I hope people will keep faith in us and we promise that we will do our best to keep the smiles on their faces and march on towards our aim, which is to win the World Cup. — courtesy PCB

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2019