South Africa series win helped Pakistan, says Hafeez
Batsman hits third century of series as hosts take unassailable 3-1 lead against SL
HEROIC HAFEEZ: Hafeez became the sixth batsmen in one-day cricket to score three hundreds in one bilateral series and the first Pakistani to do so after Zaheer Abbas. PHOTO: AFP
ABU DHABI:
The architect of Pakistan’s series win over Sri Lanka, Mohammad Hafeez feels that his team’s first-ever One-Day International (ODI) series win in South Africa raised the confidence of the team which helped them beat the visitors.
Pakistan registered a thumping eight-wicket win in the fourth ODI in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday to take an unbeatable lead with the fifth match here on Friday left inconsequential.
The victory gave Pakistan their seventh ODI series win in the calendar year, beating the previous best of six achieved in 2011.
Hafeez said Pakistan carry forward the confidence of their 2-1 one-day series win in South Africa last month.
“The confidence we got from our South Africa win helped us in this series,” said Hafeez. “It was a big motivation to win in South Africa for the first time and we carried that momentum here.”
Hafeez scored another match-winning 113 not out in Pakistan’s successful chase of the 226-run target, his third hundred in the series.
He became the sixth batsmen in one-day cricket to score three hundreds in one bilateral series and the first Pakistani to do so behind legendary Zaheer Abbas.
“It’s a great honour to be named alongside Abbas,” said Hafeez, who also crossed 4,000 one-day runs on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews conceded his team was disappointed with the result.
“I would say that overall we could have done better,” said Mathews. “We had a couple of see-saw games early on but the last few games we were well short of our standard.”
Pakistan Cricket Board’s Interim Chairman Najam Sethi is keen on a consistent performance from the team in the Test series also.
“I hope Pakistan would keep the performance up in the Test series that commences next week,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s dashing all-rounder Shahid Afridi will not be available for the fifth match after he returned home to attend to his ill daughter.
The architect of Pakistan’s series win over Sri Lanka, Mohammad Hafeez feels that his team’s first-ever One-Day International (ODI) series win in South Africa raised the confidence of the team which helped them beat the visitors.
Pakistan registered a thumping eight-wicket win in the fourth ODI in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday to take an unbeatable lead with the fifth match here on Friday left inconsequential.
The victory gave Pakistan their seventh ODI series win in the calendar year, beating the previous best of six achieved in 2011.
Hafeez said Pakistan carry forward the confidence of their 2-1 one-day series win in South Africa last month.
“The confidence we got from our South Africa win helped us in this series,” said Hafeez. “It was a big motivation to win in South Africa for the first time and we carried that momentum here.”
Hafeez scored another match-winning 113 not out in Pakistan’s successful chase of the 226-run target, his third hundred in the series.
He became the sixth batsmen in one-day cricket to score three hundreds in one bilateral series and the first Pakistani to do so behind legendary Zaheer Abbas.
“It’s a great honour to be named alongside Abbas,” said Hafeez, who also crossed 4,000 one-day runs on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews conceded his team was disappointed with the result.
“I would say that overall we could have done better,” said Mathews. “We had a couple of see-saw games early on but the last few games we were well short of our standard.”
Pakistan Cricket Board’s Interim Chairman Najam Sethi is keen on a consistent performance from the team in the Test series also.
“I hope Pakistan would keep the performance up in the Test series that commences next week,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s dashing all-rounder Shahid Afridi will not be available for the fifth match after he returned home to attend to his ill daughter.