Shaheen Afridi Reflects On Pakistan’s Pain Points After Super 8 Loss vs England

Shaheen Afridi said Pakistan were 15–25 runs short as England chased down 165 to reach the semi-final.

Shaheen Shah Afridi admitted that Pakistan fell short by 15–25 runs in their crucial clash against England at Pallekele. On a flat batting track, Pakistan’s total of 164 for 9 appeared below par, even though England reached the target with only two wickets and five balls to spare.

Unlike the surface used for England’s match against Sri Lanka on Sunday, Tuesday’s pitch had not hosted any game earlier in the tournament. This made it better for batting and allowed England to chase with more confidence.

“I feel in a wicket like this you need a partnership and you need a set batsman in that position who can bat throughout the middle overs,” Afridi said. “But unfortunately we lost wickets back to back, which is why we did not go for that 180-190 score.

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“If you see, when England batted, Harry Brook stayed at the crease and he was rotating the strike and he was just building partnerships. I think we missed this opportunity to build partnerships.

“A partnership means you have to have somebody in the crease who can go for single and twos. Throughout a T20 innings you need those eight or nine runs an over, if you want to build a partnership as well. I think that middle phase Adil Rashid bowled really well, so I think the credit goes to him as well.”

Shaheen Afridi Lauds Brook But Backs Himself

Harry Brook’s century proved decisive as he anchored England’s chase calmly while wickets fell at the other end. Pakistan had earlier struggled to build partnerships in the middle overs, which cost them momentum.

Despite the defeat, the match marked a return to rhythm for Afridi. He had been sidelined on spinner-friendly tracks in Colombo and had not been at his best in the first three matches.

However, he made an immediate impact in this game by having Phil Salt caught behind off the very first ball. Afridi went on to finish with impressive figures of 4 for 30, including the key wicket of centurion Brook.

“Whenever I play, my job is to take wickets early. That’s why I’m bowling first over. Today I’d been planning how I’d take that first wicket,” Afridi concluded.