Afghanistan once failed to show the finishing abilities as they went down against Pakistan by three wickets in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2019 at Leeds. The Afghans were dominating the game till the 45th over of the match before Imad Wasim took 18 runs off Gulbadin Naib’s over to change the game.
Batters need to take responsibility: Naib
Wasim and Wahab Riaz combined well in the death over to keep their hopes alive in the tournament. The Afghanistan spinners were once again of top-class to contain the Pakistan batters well. Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, and Rashid Khan did their job brilliantly before a moment of mistake from Gulbadin Naib took the game away from Afghanistan. Imad Wasim remained unbeaten on 49 runs while Wahab Riaz contributed with useful 15 runs to clinch the thriller with three balls to spare.
Also read: ICC World Cup 2019: We Believe We Can Win From Anywhere, Says Imad Wasim
Naib said that they fought well and gave their full; however, the victory didn’t come their way. He also credited Pakistan especially Imad and Shadab Khan for playing good hands to clinch the encounter.
“Fought really well. Gave 100%. We missed opportunities to win. Credit to Pakistan, they controlled their nerves. Imad played really well. Shadab did well too, rotated strike. In this tournament, you’ll face these kinds of situations,” Gulbadin said.
Furthermore, Gulbadin Naib admitted the injury of Hamid Hassan cost them the game against Pakistan. He also stated that the batters need to take more responsibility and support the bowlers who have performed well throughout this World Cup.
“Bad luck for us today, Hamid Hassan was injured. If he would’ve been there, would’ve been difficult for Pakistan. That was the turning point. Batsman need to take more responsibility. Thank you to the tremendous crowd here,” he concluded.