Pakistan’s T20I side continues to search for consistency during its transition phase, but the opening clash against South Africa exposed familiar flaws. Playing at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday, October 28, Pakistan were bundled out for just 139 in 18.1 overs while chasing 195, handing South Africa a 55-run victory and a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Agha Salman admits middle-order struggles
The heavy defeat once again underlined Pakistan’s inability to build momentum in the middle overs — an area that skipper Agha Salman believes needs immediate attention.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒚, 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒙 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕. 𝑾𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒚, 𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒌𝒆, 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒔,” 𝑨𝒈𝒉𝒂 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉. “𝑰𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒔, 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒔.”
Despite a promising start to the innings, Pakistan’s middle-order collapse derailed their chase. None of the batters managed to convert starts into a substantial score, as South Africa’s bowlers maintained pressure throughout the innings.
Skipper hopeful of a quick turnaround
Reflecting on Pakistan’s bowling effort, Agha Salman acknowledged that his team failed to execute their plans effectively at the start of the innings but found positives in their comeback during the later stages.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒚. 𝑩𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒎𝒑 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅. “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 — 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒑 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔.”
Earlier, after winning the toss and opting to field, Pakistan’s bowlers struggled to contain Reeza Hendricks (60 off 40), while George Linde (36 off 22) and Tony de Zorzi (33 off 16) added crucial late runs to take South Africa to 194/9. In response, Corbin Bosch and Linde dismantled Pakistan’s batting lineup with figures of four and three wickets respectively, sealing a commanding win for the visitors.
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