Abdullah Shafique, Pakistan’s opener, lamented his team’s inability to overcome Australia on Friday by scoring 368 runs, a World Cup record.
Pakistan now has two losses in the competition, in addition to their two victories, after being trounced by 62 runs.
Particularly careless fielding led to the loss of David Warner on 10 in the fifth over of the game.
On his 32nd birthday, Mitchell Marsh scored 121 on a flat Chinnaswamy Stadium surface, joining Warner in amassing a whopping 163 runs.
Usama Mir dropping Warner, according to Shafique, was essential.
“Obviously, catches affect a game; you gain wickets and momentum. Every fielder tries their hardest, but sometimes you don’t get that value,” he remarked.
Before leg-spinner Adam Zampa went through the middle order with figures of 4-53, Shafique (64) and Imam-ul-Haq (70) put together a reliable opening partnership of 134.
“Australia played very well,” Shafique added. “Our batting was also good, but in the middle overs, we couldn’t finish well.”
In the last 10 overs, Australia was contained by Shafique’s bowlers, who claimed 6 wickets for only 70 runs.
Haris Rauf got 3-83 after giving up 24 in his opening over while Shaheen Shah Afridi ended with 5-54, his second five-wicket haul in one-day international cricket.
In the end, Shafique observed, “We bowled very well as a bowling unit.”
“Hopefully we can use this as a lesson and play better in the upcoming games.”
Pakistan will play Afghanistan the next day in Chennai.
