Pakistan cricket team captain Babar Azam has said that the team performed well despite the national side suffering a defeat at the hands of New Zealand in the third T20I on Sunday.
Speaking at the post-match ceremony at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Babar said that Shadab Khan performed well in ensuring the team’s recovery after Mohammad Rizwan’s injury.
“Unfortunately, we had a bit of a setback with Rizwan [injury] because it wasn’t easy for new batsmen but I think Shadab recovered well and had an outstanding partnership with Irfan. In Pindi, 180-190 is a par score. In batting, we did well,” he said.
“I don’t think it [slow run-rate during the middle overs] made much of a difference because we had caught up. You can say we were 10 runs short,” the captain noted.
His remarks come as the Green Shirts posted a 179-run target at the loss of four wickets after being put to bat first at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
However, the Black Caps made a stunning comeback in the five-match T20I series, courtesy of Mark Chapman who led the visitors to victory by seven wickets in the third match at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.
New Zealand had a great start to the 179-run target with openers Tim Robinson (28) and Tim Seifert (21), scoring 42 runs for the first wicket.
The home side looked to stage a comeback with back-to-back dismissals by Naseem Shah and Abbas Afridi but Chapman, paired with Dean Foxcroft had their plans.
The five-match series is now levelled at 1-1 with two remaining matches scheduled to be played on April 25 and 27 at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.
