Pakistan are going through a transition phase in T20 cricket, but they will not be too pleased with how they performed in the first T20I against South Africa at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday, October 28. Salman Agha's men were bowled out for just 139 in 18.1 overs, chasing a target of 195, to go 0-1 down in the three-match series.
The one-sided defeat highlighted Pakistan's continued struggles with the bat through the middle overs in the shortest format of the game. Skipper Agha addressed
this after the 55-run defeat on Tuesday. He admitted that the Pakistan batters are failing to rotate strike and build partnerships, shortcomings that are proving detrimental to the team's chances of winning.
"We are losing wickets too quickly, especially in the middle overs, and we need to fix that. We just need to bat properly, rotate the strike, take singles and doubles, and build partnerships. That's where we are missing out right now. If we have good partnerships, we can chase these kinds of totals," Agha said in the post-match presentation.
Agha hoped for better performances from his teammates in the coming matches. He admitted that adjusting quicker while batting as well as bowling will be imperative to forge a comeback.
"We didn't bowl well in the PowerPlay. Bowling at the top of off stump would've been good enough, but we missed that. The positive is that we pulled things back well later. But we need a quick turnaround - both with the ball up front and with the bat in the middle overs," Agha opined.
Earlier in the day, Agha won the toss and opted to bowl first. Reeza Hendricks (60 off 40) held the innings together, while George Linde (36 off 22) and Tony de Zorzi (33 off 16) made crucial contributions as South Africa posted a commendable total of 194/9. In reply, Pakistan were bowled out for 139 courtesy of some controlled bowling from Corbin Bosch and Linde, who picked up four and three wickets, respectively.
