COLOMBO: Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez said he was proud of his team's World Twenty20 campaign despite a semi-final defeat to Sri Lanka, adding the hosts deserved to be in the final.
Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath proved Sri Lanka's main weapon with 3-25 after the home side scored a modest 139 in their 20 overs at Premadasa stadium on Thursday.
The defeat is the second successive exit at the semi-final stage of the World Twenty20 for Pakistan following their loss to Australia at the same stage of the 2010 event held in the West Indies.
Pakistan, among the pre-tournament favourites, finished runners-up to India in the inaugural event in 2007 in South Africa before winning the title in England two years later.
"We played positive cricket and I am proud of my team," Hafeez said. "Sri Lanka deserved to win and they are worthy finalists on the basis of what they have done in this tournament."
But the skipper admitted the target should have been well within his side's reach.
"The pitch was turning and it was difficult to score runs and we lost some wickets in the middle and couldn't stage a comeback. We should have chased that down."
Hafeez, who opened the innings, top-scored with 42 before he was stumped off Herath as Pakistan slipped from 55-1 to 91-6, eventually reaching 123-7 in their 20 overs.
The Pakistan captain backed out-of-form all-rounder Shahid Afridi, dismissed first ball by Herath. Afridi mustered just 30 runs and took four wickets in the tournament.
"There is no doubt that he still is a match-winner," said Hafeez. "There is no doubt about his abilities. He is going through very bad form at the moment. He worked hard to come out of it but failed."
And the skipper said Pakistan's weakness in chasing was a concern.
"I would not say that we are bad chasers but, yes, it is a concern and we have to sort that out with some planning because it has become a problem."
Australia and the West Indies meet in the second semi-final on Friday with the final on Sunday, also in Colombo.
COMMENTS (27)
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well some talking points for me afridi and kamran playd bad,umer akmal is the only batsmen that looked determined and played sensibley.nasir was dismissed controversially .pakistan were so close and this hurts so bad there is no consolation- oh well at least we reached semi finals and pakistan should be praised. the 'domino' effect of pakistan was eveident from the start but was ignored.hafeez should remain captain.changing captains wont be helpful.GO PAKISTAN!!MOST CONSISTENT T20 SIDES
lol
Hafeez should be ASHAMED for poor team selection, poor strategies, and his own patthatic batting.
Pakistan played well in whole tournament but unfortunately we were losing in the semis however, PCB more focused on team fielding for better results.
I would be glad today if our players had come out to fight. But, their body language does not replicate that they were fighting. Or may be bad planning to chase 140 specially for the power play. And Jamshed's wickets was the turning point as he was inform and has great ability to perform in these situation.
We Still Support Afridi.
I appreciate and commend the Pakistani Captain comments which was spoken with full confidence and without being apologetic unlike Afridi who was a complete failure in both departments of the game. He should be persisted with Captaincy as a long time prospect for Pakistan.
Poor selection,poor selection I said this before the tournament,during and still saying that.team has done more then what was expected from them,I think we need to change the selection commity and replace them with some good cricting brains who can select some consistant performers.
We will always love & support.... TEAM PAKISTAN
Afrdi! Let him play till he wants to play or till he gets too old to handle a bat (we wish you play in old age too). Let us fulfill his desires. He is our National Hero. Its our obligation to keep quite and not say a word about his performance. One day our Afridi would return to his form and will take away the whole match from opponents. Our dream will come true that day. Oh yes! of all those years of International cricket, never ever dare to forget that role in 2009 WC. Afridi its your earned right to be there as much as you desire, we owe you that 2009 performance till the end of the world.
@Much Amused: well said
Afridi! Let him play till he wants to play. One day the prince would return to his form and will take away the match from his opponents. Oh yes! we should not forget 2009 world cup (of all those years in International Cricket, we should never ever dare to forget that one match).
Without any doubt Pakistan is the best in the shorter formats of the game.great bowling and formidable batting is a potent combination
Well done team green!
Afridi has got us many matches! And he bowled well, he was the one who broke the opening partnership or we would have lost by bigger margin!
He played critical role in the 2009 WC. Bad times come on players! Why do npeople not blame malik? what has he done?
We as a nation are very emotional. Graph of our emotions also very strange. It knows only two points. Zero degree or 90 degrees. Ours this psychological phenomenon is evident in all acts of life be the social or sports. If team wins then draws endless praise and if loses then is degraded and buried below Zero level. Maturity demands balanced approach in all fields. Sport is just a field. Out of two teams one has to win. Any one with better preparation gets better chance. Cricket players are our players. They deserve proper respect and dignity if nation has to go along with this sport. I shall request all to refrain from downgrading the players specially the TV media which spares no chance to hit below the belt. Afridi has been taken specially at this time. Once he was favourite of all. Let us help in logical way to give suggestions and proposals to selectors and to players rather than downgrading every one.
wining and losing is a part of game…. we still support are team…We LOVE you all…Proud to be a part of this nation, proud to be a PAKISTANI….best wishes for team in green … those who think that our team have done this done that… first do something for pakistan then talk about it.
My 77 year old mother-in-law summed it up well ' When they came in to bat, their body language was all wrong, it looked like they wanted to lose. ' I'd be stupid not to agree.......with my mother-in-law.
Introspection required. Each player needs to assess if he is a burden on the team. Especially Afridi needs to take time off or retire. Let new blood take over.
well,they do deserve praise,but,agree with me or not, shahid afridi is one over hyped player,he totally flopped in the tournament,he is just one highly unreliable player. Indian media wants dhoni be removed from captaincy,why the Pakistani media is silent on afridi, of all, i think he should retire even before tendulkar. he has outlived his utility.
"He worked hard to come out of it but failed"
And what did Afridi do to show he worked hard to come out of his bad form? A senseless shot, first ball against a spinning ball, and that, too with no footwork? We all know he doesn't like batting but does he hate it?! I mean can he not, for the team's sake stay a few minutes on the crease? Umer Gul did it, even Sohail Tanveer tried! I have not seen a more shameless sportsman who does not even want to try. We will give him full marks for trying, we love him so much but he ruthlessly lets us down in worst possible ways.
Proud Of the boys even though we lost a game we could have won. Qualifying for Six consecutive semi finals of mega events isn't just luck it shows our class. Ye team apni hai aur ye khel apna hai. Till next time. Pakistan Zindabad !