Lord's innings will boost Haris's career; says skipper Sarfaraz

LAHORE: Pakistan cricket team captain, Sarfaraz Ahmed said on Monday that we lose as one team and we win as one team and this  has been the mantra of the Pakistan cricket team. The win over South Africa was a result of a complete team effort.

We badly needed a positive following a difficult last week when our below-par performance against India was followed by severe criticism,  some justified and some unjustified.

We had made mistakes in Manchester,  so all criticism from a cricket perspective was justified, taken  positively and in our stride, wrote the Pakistan cricket team in his  Colum ahead of his teams crucial match against New Zealand on June 26.

"We sat together, analysed our performance and decided to look  ahead. We talked through our mistakes and expressed determination  not to repeat them," he said adding "With that positive mindset,  we arrived at Lord's. What to say about the venue, which itself  is very inspiring."

He wrote "We won a good toss on a pitch that wasn’t easy to bat  on as it was double-paced but dry from beneath. Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman provided us a solid and worthy stand of 81 runs. Then, Babar  Azam and Haris Sohail strengthened the innings with an 81-run fourth  wicket stand before Haris and Imad Wasim finished it with a flourish, adding 71 runs for the fifth wicket that allowed Pakistan to collect  91 runs in the last 10 overs."

Praising the talent and batting of Haris ,he said  no praise would be enough for the innings Haris played as he made the difference. In a tight situation and in only his second match of the tournament, Haris played a gem of an innings. He batted like Jos Buttler of England. He looked hungry and his body language was very positive right from start  of his innings.

This brings to mind the question as to why we had dropped Haris  after the first game? "It was because we wanted to play with a particular combination.  He has a very wise head on his shoulders that helps him to construct  his innings and accelerate at the right time with clean and precise hitting.

It is just unfortunate that his career has been marred by injuries. I hope this innings will now give his career the deserving  lift and more importantly, the recognition," he continued.

Pakistan skipper in upbeat tone said, "We put up a good total  on the board and knew we needed early wickets to put pressure on  South Africa.

We knew Shadab Khan would come into the equation as  Imran Tahir had also got grip from the pitch." Mohammad Amir picked up Hashim Amla very early in the innings  and though Quinton de Kock and Faf du Plessis added 87 runs for the  second wicket, we kept them in check, said Sarfraz.

"Shadab once again proved why he is a champion bowler when he  accounted for de Kock and Aiden Markram, before Amir returned to  dismiss du Plessis and move to the top of the bowlers' chart with  Jofra Archer and Mitchell Starc. Wahab Riaz, with his pace and  controlled swing, destroyed the lower-order to finish off the good  work that was started earlier in the day by the batsmen," he added.

Fielding has been a worry. We have to lift it tremendously. We  dropped too many catches against South Africa, some straightforward  and some half-chances. So, over the next few days, we are going to intensify our extra drills and try to improve our ground and aerial fielding, added  Sarfraz.

Our next opponent is New Zealand. We know they are a dangerous  side, so we have to improve our Lord’s performance, set a platform  in batting, take early wickets in bowling and hold catches. That  will set the tone. Our win is not an answer to the critics.

We are here to play  cricket and, like any other side, believe we can win the World Cup.  We always do our best effort on Wednesday and all the remaining  matches, said the Paksitan captain.