Pakistan skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi heaped plaudits on all-rounders Salman Ali Agha and Hussain Talat, as well as pacer Haris Rauf, after their match-winning performances sealed a tense six-run triumph over Sri Lanka in the opening ODI at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Put into bat first, the Green Shirts, after getting off to a shaky start, had slipped to 95/4 in 23.2 overs, courtesy of Wanindu Hasaranga’s triple-wicket spell.
However, a 138-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Agha and Talat anchored their innings, while an unbeaten 66-run stand between the former and Mohammad Nawaz eventually steered them to a formidable total.
Agha remained the top-scorer for the Green Shirts with an unbeaten century, making 105 off 87 deliveries with the help of nine fours, followed by Talat, who made a 63-ball 62, while Nawaz chipped in with 36 not out from 23 balls.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Shaheen revealed that the hosts were initially vying to register around 250 on the board, but credited Agha and Talat for leading them almost to the 300-run mark.
“The players played well. The way we started and the early wicket losses… credit goes to Agha and Talat,” said Shaheen.
“The way we started with the bat, our dot-ball percentage was very high. We were looking to score 250-260 the way we started, but 300 is a big total,” he added.
The second innings followed the same pattern as Sri Lanka were in a dominant position until the completion of 11 overs, but Pakistan forced a comeback through pacer Rauf, who halted their progress with three wickets in his two overs.
Haris eventually returned economical bowling figures of 4/49 in his 10 overs, while fellow pacer Naseem Shah and fast-bowling all-rounder Faheem Shah lent valuable support by taking two wickets each, helping Pakistan successfully defend the total and edge Sri Lanka by six runs.
“But more credit goes to Haris Rauf; the way he started was really awesome. Haris is always a wicket-taker for Pakistan. He was our top performer in white-ball cricket. Haris is our main bowler,” Shaheen continued.
Notably, Haris’s fourth wicket came with the support of Babar Azam, who took a sensational one-handed catch at wide slip to dismiss Sadeera Samarawickrama.
“Babar’s catch was like Superman,” Shaheen said of the one-handed blinder to conclude his post-match interview with a smile.
