Upbeat Babar vows to repeat power-hitting prowess in final T20I today

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s captain for all three formats Babar Azam Thursday hoped to carry forward the momentum into the fourth T20I amid similar Centurion conditions which, he said, were good enough to bring out the best from the top-order.

In a virtual talk following an empathic display of exciting cricket that saw Pakistan racing to nine-wicket win in the third T20I, Babar said he wanted his charges to carry forward the same momentum going into the fourth and final T20 today (Friday).

“The series outcome depends on the fourth T20’s result. We are looking forward to continue with the same tempo which we have shown in the third T20. Hopefully, you would see the best from Pakistan players in the final game against South Africa.”

Recalling his outstanding knock that saw Babar playing possibly the best T20 International innings of all time, he said he was waiting for such an innings again.

“I have been long dreaming of playing such an innings which finally came Wednesday. More importantly, it helped the team win the match. Full credit to Razi Bahi (Mohammad Rizwan) who was fasting and yet stayed at the field throughout the match — first as a wicketkeeper and then returned unbeaten as a batsman to see the team through. He has really shown the guts of a true fighter.”

Coming into the third T20, Babar said they left the second T20 defeat behind.

“We only focus on what is coming next and try to make the best use of the opportunity. Definitely, we learn from our mistakes but the main focus always remains the coming match. In the third T20, our entire focus was on the match, knowing that the conditions were good. Despite the fact that Malan and Aidan Markram put up more than 100 in just 10 overs for South Africa, our bowlers stayed cool and restrict the hosts for around 200 which we felt was achievable. All we tried was to have a good partnership up front. The script went accordingly. Though we wanted to finish the match without losing a wicket, I got out when we were about to hit the winning target. Fakhar Zaman then completed the win. Fakhar always has the freedom to go all out. Credit goes to Fakhar who sacrificed his opening slot for the sake of team’s planning.”

The captain added that the victory was important for us. “Our bowlers also bowled well during later stages of the match to restrict South Africa. Everyone must keep in mind that it is T20 cricket where batsmen try to overpower bowlers and they succeed in that most of the time mainly because of the suitable condition. So it is up to bowlers to stay firm and take the battle back to the batting lineup once they get the opportunity. Shaheen, Hasan, and Haris all bowled well in later stages of the South Africa innings.”

Babar said his advice to his team members had always been to play positive and learn from mistakes.

“We knew well that we can bounce back after losing the second T20. It was exactly what happened. Despite a challenging target, we made sure we chase it successfully and that we have done courtesy to proper planning.”