Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed credited the team effort for winning the T20I tri-series in Zimbabwe. After reaching the final by winning three out of four matches, Pakistan beat Australia by 6 wickets in the final and claimed the trophy.
Pakistan had to play five games in eight days to clinch the trophy. Though Sarfraz admitted that it was not easy, he believes that they succeeded due to their team effort.
After winning the series, the Pakistan skipper said, “If you are the No.1 side you have to stand up. It not easy to play six matches in eight days and I must credit the boys for the way they played.”
Also read: KL Rahul Attains The Career Best T20I Ranking
In the final match on Sunday, Australian openers D’Arcy Short and Aaron Finch provided a very good start but Pakistan bowlers performed strongly in the second half that restricted the Australian team to 183/8.
Chasing down that target, Pakistan lost their first two wickets in the very first over. Then Fakhar Zaman and Shoaib Malik played the great innings to set the game while the captain Sarfraz provided an important contribution in the middle.
Talking about team’s performance in the final, Sarfraz said, “A great team effort. Credit to the bowlers, they finished the innings well.
“Malik and Zaman then did the job for us with the bat. Our fielding was not very good, we dropped some catches but we took the momentum in the second innings. If we talk about 180 chasing in the final match is not easy. Zaman played very well all through the innings.”
Also read: Childhood coach reveals how KL Rahul modifies himself as a powerful and solid batsman
In the final, Zaman played a brilliant knock of 91 runs off 46 balls with 12 fours and 3 sixes. While he won the Player of the Match award in the final, he also won the Player of the Series award after scoring 278 runs in this series.
Talking about his great form, the 28-year-old said, “I like these pitches. From the first game, I was in form. Hard work in nets is the main thing. I take time at the start and play my natural game. We lost two wickets at the start but I wanted to play my natural game. Australia played very well and congratulations to our team for winning the series.”
Meanwhile, Australian skipper Aaron Finch admitted that they had a very good start but the regular wickets falling shifted the momentum.
Praising Fakhar Zaman and the Pakistan team, Finch said, “I thought we should have got around 200. We just kept losing wickets, which stalled the momentum. Pakistan played well. I thought we started well with the ball. Fakhar Zaman played one hell of a knock. A 90-odd in a T20 game is hard to beat.”
