Pakistan Captain Doesn’t Mince Words, Reveals Exact Reason Behind Loss To South Africa In 1st T20I

Pakistan’s T20I captain Salman Agha was quite critical of his team’s performance in a 55-run loss to South Africa in the T20I series opener and pointed out that the team’s middle order failed to build partnerships. Pakistan suffered a 55-run defeat in the T20I series opener, with the Proteas taking a 1-0 lead. Chasing a target of 195, Pakistan were dismissed for 139 in 18.1 overs, hindered by a disciplined bowling effort from Corbin Bosch and George Linde. The loss highlighted Pakistan’s ongoing challenge in forming meaningful partnerships, a point Agha focused on during the post-match presentation.

“We started well with the batting, but we didn’t start well when it comes to bowling-though we pulled things back. With the batting, we are losing too many wickets in the middle, and we need to fix that and make a quick turnaround from the previous game. I think we just need to bat properly.

“We didn’t start well with the ball, but we pulled things back. With the batting, we are losing wickets quickly, and we need to have a quick turnaround. We have to take singles and doubles, make partnerships, and the partnerships are missing right now in the middle. If we have good partnerships, then we can chase these kinds of totals. But right now, we are just losing too many wickets in the middle, and that’s costing us the game,” he said.

Agha was also disappointed with his bowlers, saying that they didn’t bowl well in the powerplay. He noted that the wicket was one where, had they bowled on top of the off stump, it would have benefited them. However, he acknowledged that the bowlers failed to do so, which led to the visitors posting a big total.

“I think we didn’t bowl well in the powerplay. We didn’t start it well, and I think it’s the kind of wicket that if we had bowled right on top of the off stump, it would have been good enough. But we didn’t bowl well. However, we bowled really well in the middle overs, and that’s a positive for us.”

The two teams now play in the second T20I at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Friday. The third and final T20I of the series will also be staged at the same venue on Saturday.

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