Pakistan's middle-order batting struggles continued as the Men in Green were humiliated by New Zealand by 9 wickets in the fourth match of the ongoing T20I tri-series on Tuesday (October 11) in Christchurch.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Pakistan's middle order was once again exposed, as no one could reach the 30-run mark after openers Babar Azam (21) and Mohammad Rizwan (16) failed to get going with the bat, resulting in a total of 130 runs against New Zealand.
The hosts easily chased down the target inside 17 overs at the expense of only one wicket, thanks to Finn Allen’s fifty (62) and Devon Conway’s unbeaten 49.
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After the match, former Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal slammed Pakistan's middle order while praising Iftikhar Ahmed, who took 27 balls to score the same amount of runs as the Black Caps. He said that Iftikhar started his innings similarly to MS Dhoni but did not finish it similarly.
“Iftikhar MS Dhoni ki tarah khel raha hai par end me vo nahi kar paata jo MS karta tha ki pehle single le le, aur end pe aake chhakke maarke compensate kar liya. Iftikhar sahab start me 10 ball khaa jaate hain, Shan Masood 5-7 ball pehle aake khaa jaate hain.
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Saare batters aise hi ball khaate hain, fir recover karne ke liye hit maarte hain aur out hoke bahar chala jaata hai. (Iftikhar plays like MS Dhoni but couldn't end the innings like MS used to. (MS) used to take singles and hit sixes towards the end to compensate for them. Here, Iftikhar plays 10 dot balls, Shan Masood plays 5-7 dot balls, and when they try to recover by hitting big shots, they get out),” Saeed Ajmal said on his official YouTube channel.
He added, “27 ball pe 27 run banaaye hain aur last over me out ho jaate hain. Aap kidhar stand karte hain? (Iftikhar scored 27 runs off as many balls and he got out in the last over. Where do you stand?).”
Pakistan's middle-order crisis deepened since the Asia Cup last month, and the concerns also came to fore during the seven-match T20I series against England, which Pakistan lost 3-4. The Babar Azam-led side will begin its T20 World Cup campaign against arch-rivals India on October 23.
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