Lahore: Pakistan captain Shaheen Afridi has reacted to the defeat against Australia in the second ODI of the series at Gaddafi Stadium on Tuesday.
Speaking during the post-match presentation, Afridi admitted that Pakistan had put the team under pressure at key stages of the game, especially at the death of the ball and early batting collapse.
He acknowledged the challenging nature of the surface, while praising Australia’s disciplined bowling effort, particularly Nathan Ellis, for making the most of the conditions.
“I think we gave away 20-30 extra runs in the end. We lost wickets early on and that created pressure on us. (A different surface than Pindi) It’s a spiral track, not easy to bat on. Yes, the ball comes into the bat better in the second innings, but the way Nathan Ellis bowled well; he bowled and brought stump to stump,” he said.
The left-arm fast bowler emphasized the importance of quick focus for the series decider, with little turnaround time between matches.
“We will try to win the game. It’s a one-day break, so we won’t look at our mistakes too much,” he said.
He also reflected on the performance of his bowling unit, highlighting the impact of pitch conditions and ball change, which reduced support for the bowlers.
“Yes, on these wickets, the more you bowl in the line of stumps, it helps because it doesn’t swing as much. When it started to reverse, the ball changed so our bowlers didn’t get much help from the old ball,” he concluded.
The visitors cruised to a 41-run win in the second ODI against Pakistan thanks to some disciplined bowling that saw off the hosts and leveled the three-match series at 1-1.
Batting first, Australia were restricted to 231-9 in the allotted 50 overs, with Shaheen Afridi leading Pakistan’s bowling and making early inroads in the visitors’ batting line-up.
Captain Josh Inglis and Cameron Green anchored the innings with crucial half-centuries, while Oliver Peak also made valuable contributions with the bat.
Green top scored with 53 off 92 balls including a four and 2 sixes while Inglis scored 51 off 74 balls with the help of 5 fours. Peake scored 31 runs off 32 balls with a four and 2 sixes.
For Pakistan, skipper Afridi led the bowling with figures of 3/36 from 8 overs, while Haris Rauf, Arafat Minhas and Abrar Ahmed claimed two wickets each.
In reply, the Men in Green were bowled out for 190 in 44 overs, with Shatab Khan bringing up his fifth ODI half-century with a 104-ball 71 including a four and three sixes.
Young wicketkeeper-batsman Kazi Kori scored 37 off 48 balls with 5 fours, while Arafat Minhas scored 33 off 43 balls with 4 fours.
Nathan Ellis bowled for Australia, taking 4/33 from nine overs, while Matthew Short took three wickets. Matthew Kuhneman, Adam Jamba and Tanveer Sangha took one wicket each.