Pakistan’s dashing all-rounder Shahid Afridi may have thrown away the opportunity to give his side a winning start in the two-match Cool & Cool Cup Twenty20 series against South Africa when he tried one hit too many against his counterpart Johan Botha at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday night.
He walked into the middle when Pakistan were not too comfortably placed at 46 for three in the eighth over to a thunderous ovation from an expectant crowd who had filled up the stands to the brim. The Pakistan skipper lived up to his reputation as ‘Boom Boom’ Afridi when he dispatched the first ball he faced from Botha over long on.
Having warmed the cockles of the ‘home’ fans by pulling Rusty Theron to the fence earlier, he seemed to be determined to deal in boundaries as he sent two successive deliveries from off spinner Botha hurtling over the ropes. But with his adrenaline pumped up, he fell short attempting to clear Loots Bosman who gobbled the catch gratefully to end Afridi’s seven-ball cameo of 25.
Pakistan’s hopes of consolidating their decent start on a track in which Afridi had no hesitation in batting first disintegrated thereafter with their lower order collapsing in a heap to fold up for 119 – a below par total in Twenty20 even if you have the best attack in the world.
“I made a big mistake. I don’t know why I tried another one,” said Afridi later ruing the missed opportunity of revelling on a placid surface. “We missed the opportunity to score about 150-160 because it was a very good batting track.”
Team coach Waqar Younis sprang to his defence when asked this was the turning point of the match which South Africa won by six wickets.
“Twenty20 is all about getting big hits. One can say that probably after hitting two sixes he could have taken a single and maneuvered around for a couple of overs but that’s the way he plays. That’s the way his game is. He himself believed that he played a silly shot,” said Waqar who felt they played below their potential.
“We were at least 30 runs short. In Twenty20 it is difficult to come back. I’m pleased with the bowling performance. I thought they really stuck in and gave their best shot. It was just not enough runs on the board,” said the former Pakistan skipper.
Afridi felt the batsman should learn to build partnerships and regain their focus. “We should learn from these guys the way they build partnerships,” he said referring to the 66-run fourth wicket stand between JP Duminy and Colin Ingram which effectively sealed the game for South Africa.
“We should be more focused, especially the youngsters. They know how important these games are for us and for their careers as well,” said the talismanic all-rounder.
Waqar concurred with Afridi that they could not build up good partnerships but was pleased with the performance of Misbah-ul-Haq, recalled after being axed following the World Twenty20 in May this year.
“He has come back after a while and he took a little longer to get going. When he was batting we were losing wickets at the other end. It was very hard for him to sort of gain the momentum which is very key in Twenty20. He needs a little more time and he will get into his groove,” he said of Misbah who top scored with an unbeaten 27 with a six and two boundaries.
Afridi was heartened by the commitment shown in the field. “This is an area we were struggling in the past but I think it’s much better now,” he said on the fielding.
However, coach Waqar said he would not press the panic button or rethink strategy being aware that even the best laid plans of mice and men go awry. “In England we won two Twenty20 matches against Australia. We batted pretty well in the one-dayers also. It’s just that we could not build up a partnership in today’s game. It is never easy when you are short of runs. You can set strategies and put a target. Some days you don’t achieve that,” he said philosophically.
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