United were 10 runs short: head coach

LAHORE: Islamabad United head coach Mike Hesson has said that they were ten runs short. “We wanted to score 160 and we were ten to 11 runs short but I am sure we read the pitch very well,” Mike Hesson said after his Islamabad United were beaten by Quetta Gladiators by just three wickets on Thursday here at the Gaddafi Stadium.

United scored 138-9 and Gladiators achieved it with ten balls to spare after losing seven wickets. Mike said that they had read the pitch well. “We had read the pitch well and had done well in the powerplay with the bat but once the ball got softer and the field widened it was going to be hard to get score. And I think we saw that it would be difficult after the powerplay as both swing and seam were seen,” Mike said. Asked if there was chance for Haider Ali to play in the coming matches, Mike said they played only three overseas players on Thursday.

“Jordan Cox coming in and that takes away one middle order player and Ubaid Shah gave away to Hunain Shah. I am sure the middle order is strong and they will fire fairly quickly,” Mike said.

The coach was also happy with Hunain Shah’s performance. “Yes, I am delighted with Hunain Shah’s performance. He got the wicket of Jason Roy when he was scoring runs quickly and it was a crucial wicket for us and for him too as his confidence grew. Look he is a young man but he knows his game fairly well. We needed him in the backend today as it was a low scoring game. He has got the skills. It’s nice to have a couple of shouts,” he said.