ISLAMABAD: Following Pakistan’s loss against Australia in the T20 World Cup semifinals, Prime Minister Imran Khan sent a message of encouragement to the Men in Green and congratulated the team for their stellar performance throughout the tournament.
Taking to Twitter, the Prime Minister cited his own example from his cricketing days and said that losing is part of the game. “To Babar Azam & the team: I know exactly how all of you are feeling right now because I have faced similar disappointments on the cricket field,” he wrote on Twitter.
To Babar Azam & the team: I know exactly how all of you are feeling right now bec I have faced similar disappointments on the cricket field. But you shd all be proud of the quality of cricket you played & the humility you showed in your wins. Congratulations Team Australia.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 11, 2021
“However, you should all be proud of the quality of cricket you played and the humility you showed in your wins,” PM Imran added. At the same time, the premier congratulated team Australia for their 5-wicket win.
World Cup campaign ends as Australia beat Pakistan to reach final
Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade stitched together an unbeaten fifty-run partnership to guide Australia to a superb five-wicket win and a place in the final where they will take on New Zealand on Sunday.
Chasing a stiff target of 177 runs, both Stoinis and Wade played some well-calculated shots and took the game deep to launch an assault late in the run-chase against Pakistan pacers.
Wade finished the game with three back-to-back sixes off Shaheen Shah Afridi to finish the game with an over to spare and five wickets in hand.
Skipper Aaron Finch departed for a duck in the first over against pacer Shaheen but Warner continued his charge. Meanwhile, Shadab removed Steve Smith (5) in his following over.
Australia were dominating the run chase at the halfway mark but Shadab gave a big breakthrough of Warner. It was the turning point of the match as the replay showed that Warner didn’t nick the ball. The left-hander scored 49 off 30 balls, powered by three fours and three sixes.
Pakistan had tightened the screws of the Australians as the run-rate kept creeping and in the process, Glenn Maxwell (7) departed. Shadab took the price wicket and finished with impressive figures of 4/26, the best-ever by a bowler in the semi-finals of T20 World Cup history.
Australia pinned hopes on the last recognized pair of Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade. The duo delivered as they wrapped up the chase in the 19th over. Wade smacked three consecutive sixes off Shaheen after Hasan dropped his catch. He scored 17-ball 41 while Stoinis made 40 off 31 balls.
