Better, but do more: former batsmen tell Pakistan

Grandhomme’s unbeaten 74 helps New Zealand chase 263 in fourth ODI

KARACHI: Pakistan succumbed to a fourth successive defeat at the hand of hosts New Zealand on Tuesday as returning all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with a quick-fire 74 at Hamilton.

Set to chase 263 in 50 overs, New Zealand were 154-5 at one point in the 35^th over, but Grandhomme walked in and made easy work of the Pakistani bowlers as he hit five sixes and seven boundaries to help him team past the finish line.

For Pakistan, Shadab was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets in his 10 overs, giving away 42 runs. Rumman Raees and Haris Sohail bagged one wicket each.

Earlier, Pakistan, after opting to bat first, scored 262-8 in 50 overs, courtesy half-centuries by opener Fakhar Zaman (54), left-handed batsman Haris Sohail (50), all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez (81) and captain Sarfraz Ahmed (51).

“The batsmen performed better than they what they did before,” former opener Yasir Hameed told The Express Tribune. “It was nice to see the batsmen scoring runs. The key batsmen did well today, but still our opening partnership is facing issues. The team needs to sort this out, otherwise they will not be able to play confidently.”



Yasir feels Pakistan need to stop losing wickets in the first 10 overs. “If a team starts losing wickets in the first 10 overs, then its confidence withers and the batsmen are forced to consolidate. This means they have to focus on keeping wickets in tact rather than scoring quick runs. It is natural and not wrong. So, if a team wants to regain its confidence, a strong opening partnership is required.”

Batsmen have skill, need confidence: Iqbal

Former Pakistan international Faisal Iqbal believes Pakistani batsmen are skilled enough to perform in New Zealand, and just need to be more confident and not shy away from attacking the opposition.

“We have really good batsmen in the team and all they need is confidence which will allow them to play their natural shots, and not worry about losing wickets,” said Iqbal.



Iqbal continued by praising Sarfraz’s return to form and said a mere 30-35 more runs would’ve swung the game in Pakistan’s favour.

“It was good to see captain Sarfraz scoring runs today and taking the target to a decent position, but still we were just 30-35 runs short, which could’ve been managed if we had a strong opening pair. Then, we could have won the match,” he said, adding that the bowlers also need to keep their performance consistent.