Published: Sep 16, 2018, 11:28 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 16, 2018, 11:28 PM (IST)
Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed termed his team’s thumping victory against Hong Kong in their Asia Cup 2018 opener on Sunday night as a complete performance. However, Sarfraz felt his team could have won by a better margin and he the fact that they failed to pick wickets with the new ball was a concern.
Chasing a modest 117, Pakistan overhauled the target in 23.4 overs with eight wickets remaining.
“It was our complete performance,” Sarfraz said at the post-match presentation on Sunday. “But as captain I saw a few things that we need to work on to perform well in the tournament. We should have won this game by nine or 10 wickets. We also need to get early wickets with the ball. The new ball wasn’t swinging early on which was a concern.”
However, with India game still two days away, Sarfraz knows his team has the time to work on the mistakes. “But we have time to figure it out. We have to be at our best to beat India,” he said.
Left-arm pacer Usman Khan was the star performer with the ball for Pakistan. He endured a wicketless first spell during which he bowled five overs for 14 runs including a maiden. His second spell proved to be deadly as he picked up three wickets in one over to reduce Hong Kong to 97/8.
“My aim was to pick early wickets with the new ball but luck was not on my side. In the second spell, the ball started ball reversing and so I was able to take wickets,” Usman explained.
However, Usman, who was chosen as man-of-the-match for his 3/19, pulled out midway through his eighth over and hobbled off the ground raising fitness concerns. However, the 24-year-old clarified it was a minor bleeding which he suffered after slipping in the field.
“My fitness is okay. There was a little bit of bleeding in the toe after I slipped. I’m happy with my performance. It’s fun to have (healthy) competition in a side with a lot of good bowlers. We hope to give our best all the time,” he said.
