SHARJAH: Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan rued the loss of momentum and the quick wickets in the middle overs for his side’s defeat in the opening match of the tri-series against Pakistan here at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Afghanistan were handed a 39-run defeat, and at the halfway mark of the innings, they were cruising with 85-2.
However, in the middle overs, Afghanistan lost the plot, and a collapse sparked by Haris Rauf’s double-wicket maiden left them in dire straits.
After the match, Rashid mentioned his quick-fire knock in which he made 39 from just 16 balls.
“We had it in our mind…that run-rate is something that matters. As long as I can try my best to get close to the target, and luckily we got some runs there,” he said.
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“I feel this is a wicket of 190-200. The lesser we restrict them to, it is a plus for us. Anything 170-175, we are happy to chase. We lost so many wickets (in the overs between 11-15) and that did not give us the momentum (towards the end), ” he expressed his disappointment.
Rashid Khan highlighted the key moment in the match, calling it essential for T20 cricket.
“If we had a couple of good overs between overs 11-16, we could have chased it. That is what T20s is about – you cannot lose momentum and once you do, it is tough.”
“At such times, you cannot play risky shots. You can play your shots, but you have to take a bit of time. You can take singles and rotate strike, and that keeps the pressure off you.
We had a maiden over with two wickets. Four balls, four singles (instead), the momentum could have been different. Rotating strike is key,” he concluded.
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