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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
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Comments (52) Closed
Jun 05, 2019 10:16am
Hope, Pakistan wins every match. And, finals happens to be PAK/IND.
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Jun 05, 2019 10:20am
Good initiative by PCB for giving insight via team captain
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Jun 05, 2019 10:39am
Sorry to say but Pakistan won because of poor England Fielding, Pakistan could not have scored 348 if catches would not have been dropped ,,,
I wish best of luck for Pakistan
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Jun 05, 2019 10:44am
Time to get out of the hangover and refocus again
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Jun 05, 2019 11:05am
Weldone Pakistan cricket team. This team combination looks a lot better. Excellent captaincy by Sarfaraz Ahmed. Prayers and best wishes for Sarfraz Ahmed's Pakistan team.
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Jun 05, 2019 11:10am
Good performance by Pakistan after losing 11 matches on a trot. Hope they keep up their performance
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Jun 05, 2019 11:15am
@Indian kashmiri, don’t be jealous be a good sportsman
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Jun 05, 2019 11:22am
You made us proud skipper. Way to go men in green, our prayers and full support are with you. Eid ul Fitr Mubarak.
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Jun 05, 2019 11:25am
Despite a win, Pakistan must recognize and find remedy for the mistakes they made against England and West Indies. Against WI, they were too late to read the wicket and understand that it was a 220 run match. Against England, it was a serious mistake when after being 3/199 they sent Sarfraz to bat while situation and flow of the innings asked for Asif Ali to come and play a long good innings.Some could also think that Shoaib Malik was taken of too early after him giving only 10 runs in his 3 overs and taking wicket of Stokes. Pakistan's fifth bowler in Hafeez and Shoaib was the most economical one of all and took 2 precious wickets of Morgan and Stokes.
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Jun 05, 2019 11:40am
I am not sure how I could communicate this message over to Sarfaraz but let me tell him "We Pakistanis here in UK are behind you and will support you in every match and every moment of your stay over here in UK. It makes a hell of difference when one hears chants of Pakistan Zindabad, Jeeway Jeeway Pakistan, Aamir Aamir, Wahab Wahab etc".
I am pretty sure you would have heard all of our above mentioned chants in the match against ENG. English team seemed shell shocked in the field with Pakistan's excellent play plus the amount of noise we Pakistani supporters were generating. This was the best experience of my life of watching a Pakistan team cricket match. We had a big group of friends, with a drum at our disposal and a number of our lovely Pakistani flags with us. Most of Pakistan's match are sold out or near to being sold out. I will request all Pakistanis to support our team till the end of this WC. Our team does not get the same opportunities as other teams from 2003 on wards!
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Jun 05, 2019 11:42am
Guys we are only interested in consistency and action. Forget the words. We are well aware of pak performance over the last decade or so and hence let us do the talking and you can do the walking
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Jun 05, 2019 11:54am
Pakistan is predictably unpredictable. That was seen the first two matches. Not sure if they can win or loose remaining matches.
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Jun 05, 2019 11:57am
It was a close match and team effort that led to victory. Be focused, play your natural game according to ground conditions, don't be over confident and under any pressure. Matches against other countries will be tough but can be won through united and pre-planned strategies and hard practices. Good luck!
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Jun 05, 2019 12:31pm
Pak is the best team in the world, best batting unit, best balling unit, best fielding unit. A truly world Champion
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Jun 05, 2019 12:32pm
Good luck Team always fight till the.end don't give up and all should support each other you win or not the world cup but at the end of tournament you all should come out as an excellent unit Good luck
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Jun 05, 2019 12:54pm
After having dropped to 10th ranking after thrashing by WI we are back to our 7th ranking after beating England.
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Jun 05, 2019 01:04pm
Well said Sarfraz Ahmed. You passion is infectious!!! Best of luck in your next game!!!
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Jun 05, 2019 01:20pm
@Indian kashmiri, Wasim Akram would have had 600 test wickets if it wasn't for dropped catches
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Jun 05, 2019 01:21pm
@B S Sharma,That’s means remaining matches can .!! be won by Pakistan
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Jun 05, 2019 01:34pm
@Indian kashmiri, "but Pakistan won because of poor England Fielding,"
Really?
What about when Joe Root was dropped by Babar Azam at slip in the sixth over. Root was then on 9, and went on to make 107?
Myopic comment!
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Jun 05, 2019 01:35pm
It a shame that the match against Sri Lanka will we a washout ar Bristol.We desperately need the winning points.Im checking the met office forecast every six hours but chance of pre operation is 100%%.Folks start praying that it does not rain!!!!
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Jun 05, 2019 01:59pm
Deliberate slow batting by Moin Ali favored Pakistan to win.
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Jun 05, 2019 02:02pm
@mohd Azeez, after loosing 11 matches?
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Jun 05, 2019 02:03pm
Pak cricket is simply mind blowing. One day they meekly surrender and on the other day they topple world No 1. It will really interesting to see how Pak fair against the giants Aus, India and the giant killer NZ to determine if they will be among the Top 4. They need atleast 6 wins to have an outside chance of getting into the Semis.
So they are required to win atleast 5 out of next 7 matches (SL, AFG and BD & SA Pak will win) but against Aus, Ind and NZ will be the real test for them.
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Jun 05, 2019 02:09pm
Anyone would think pak has won the world cup! Though It makes sense now why Pak ranks high on happiness index..bcos bar is quite low ..just one win..just one airline starts to fly..few loans.. All it takes.
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Jun 05, 2019 02:56pm
It is nice to see that captain Sarfraz has good feelings about the players in his team. The heartfelt feelings of player’s demonstrated talent not only reassures the players but also helps in team building. The best is yet to come. The way to go “O Captain, my Captain.”
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Jun 05, 2019 03:14pm
Dear Sarfaraz, that game is over long time and we need to move on . Professional teams don't live in the past . You have Sri Lanka next which can be a challenging time on a given day and then the formidable teams like India, Australia and New Zealand . So work hard and get over with England's win. Look at Indian and Australian passion and take a leaf out of their book.
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Jun 05, 2019 03:15pm
@Shahid, totally agree with you
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Jun 05, 2019 03:17pm
@Shah, ITs fact...which you guys never ready to accept.
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Jun 05, 2019 03:18pm
@Indian kashmiri, drop catches are part of the games. Remember Root was dropped by Babar Azam when he was not even 25, so what would have happened then. Pakistan is on the loosing side for 11 matches attributed off course to a bad performance but also being unlucky. This is the beauty of cricket , humans are playing it, not the robots.
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Jun 05, 2019 03:40pm
@B N Sharma, They were unpredictable in the ICC Champions Trophy recently and also the 1992 world cup but it lead to two very important victories :)
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Jun 05, 2019 04:32pm
Fluke.....just like Champions Trophy final.....
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Jun 05, 2019 04:48pm
Team Pakistan kept on fighting till the last ball, thats the spirit and name of the game, to fight to the last.
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Jun 05, 2019 05:12pm
No doubt, it was a great and history making effort by the greenshirts to beat England in England during their round-robin league match in the on-going 2019 World Cup Cricket Tourney at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Nevertheless, they must not forget that the Cricket World Cup is not yet over. According my, they must stay fully focused, practice hard, remain humble and follow the advice of their team managers, coaches, physios, psychologists, doctors, administrators and training staff at least till Sunday, July 14, 2019, when the grand final of the 2019 World Cup Cricket Tourney will be played at the famous and historic Lords Cricket Stadium in London, England.
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Jun 05, 2019 05:28pm
@Shahid Rizwan Khokher, - Well done and carry on supporting Pakistani team and, be a loyal member of the community and we are proud of people like you. Pakistan Zindabad!
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Jun 05, 2019 05:42pm
@Indian kashmiri, This also applies to England. Had Babar not dropped Root, England would not have made 330. I believe the way Pakistan played they deserved to win.
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Jun 05, 2019 05:53pm
Please be consistent now but I am afraid the track record is completely opposite.
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Jun 05, 2019 06:13pm
@Cool dude, no it should be pak/Aus or pak/eng
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Jun 05, 2019 06:14pm
@Subhabrata Chaudhury, Champions Trophy 2017 was two years ago. We won. you lost. get over it.
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Jun 05, 2019 06:39pm
First match will cost heavy due to run rate only being better than afg. In round robin every game counts, so beating England is one thing and qualifying for the semis is quite another.
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Jun 05, 2019 06:42pm
@Subhabrata Chaudhury, It seems you will not forget the nightmare of the champions trophy defeat and Abhi Nandan humiliation in this life
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Jun 05, 2019 06:47pm
Now next 10 matches they can lose. As one good win give them licence to lose
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Jun 05, 2019 07:16pm
England lost the game as they just came out of 4 - 0 series win and did not take opponent seriously. Pakistani bowlers were ineffective against lead batsmen and let them score two centuries. Dropped catches by "good fielders" is a weakness still prevailing. Real test is coming when Pakistan plays against Australia, New Zealand, and off course, India. I still doubt capabilities of Pakistan squad to defeat any other team.
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Jun 05, 2019 07:18pm
@Indian kashmiri, and Root scored a hundred because of drop catches. England won't have got even close without his innings.
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Jun 05, 2019 07:29pm
Please stay humble and stay focused... we don’t want to see up and down performances, but more consistently good performances even if you lose
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Jun 05, 2019 09:29pm
Onward mighty green shirts...
Gordon D. Walker
Canada
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Jun 05, 2019 10:29pm
@mohd Azeez, agreed :)
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Jun 05, 2019 10:49pm
Pak you have won the leggie match; do not overwhelm with single win.
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Jun 05, 2019 11:00pm
Irrespective of teams or jingoism, a brilliant game of cricket by England and Pak. Well done!
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Jun 05, 2019 11:24pm
@Subhabrata Chaudhury, thanks friend not.
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Jun 05, 2019 11:43pm
@Sriniwas, Thanks for the gracious reminder about the previous 11 consecutive losses
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Jun 05, 2019 11:49pm
Well played Pakistan. But please recognize, just like the first game, this game is history. Consider the next game as starting from scratch. And please don't let the win over England make you overconfident for the next game.
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