Umar Amin disappointed by loss against Multan

KARACHI: Peshawar Zalmi’s senior batsman Umar Amin on Friday was disappointed by his team’s narrow loss against Multan Sultans in a crucial HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2020 match here at the empty National Stadium.

“We should have won this game. We should not have lost this game after coming that close,” Umar told a post-match news conference here at National Stadium late Friday night.

Chasing 155, Zalmi required 15 off the last over from Ali Shafiq and four off the last delivery but Adil Amin failed to manage a boundary.

With nine points, Zalmi will have to wait for the outcomes of other teams’ matches to know whether they are going to play semi-finals or not.

Umar said that young Adil was playing his first game in the event and so could not be expected to deliver in such a tense situation.

“In such a pressure situation you cannot demand much from a young boy. Still he took the game very close. We needed 15 runs in the last over and lost by just three runs. He made an effort but could not succeed,” Amin said.

The left-handed batsman said that there was no panic following the departure of their five key foreign players. “The best thing in our team is that our reserve players are so competent that it was always very difficult for our management to form a final eleven. So we are not under pressure. If we are able to qualify for semi-finals then you will get a good match,” Amin said.

To a query, he said that skipper Wahab Riaz went to bat at number three as per the team’s strategy. “As far as Wahab Riaz’s decision to promote himself in the batting order is concerned, it was a team strategy and Wahab’s decision. He wanted to put the opposition under pressure through attacking display,” Amin said.

He also said that it looked strange to play in the empty stadium. “In front of the empty stadium it was a bit strange today as we have been playing the PSL matches amid huge crowds,”he said.

He said if his team got more matches in the event he would try to live up to the billing. “In the current scenario I can hardly get two more matches but the world lives on hope,” he said.