Shadab Khan’s six was a million-dollar shot, says Sarfraz Ahmed

Shadab Khan hit a six in the final over. (AP Photo)

Pakistan completed a thrilling victory over Sri Lanka Lanka in the second T20I as Shadab Khan hit eight runs off two balls to win the game on the penultimate ball of the match. His six off fourth ball of the final over changed the game in Pakistan’s favour as he brought down the equation from 8 off 3 balls. Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed described it a ‘million-dollar six.’

“Our bowlers did really well to pull Sri Lanka down form their position of strength while they were batting. The fielding too was really really good. And then Shadab at the end, hitting that six, that was a million-dollar shot,” Sarfraz Ahmed said.

Pakistan won the game by two wickets which also gave them the series before heading to Lahore for the final T20I on Sunday. This will the final game of the three-match series. Sarfraz praised his bowlers for the win.

“In that crunch situation, on this difficult pitch, that shot was very difficult. Our youngsters are putting up big performances. We back them, our coaching staff backs them and they are coming good even in high pressure situations. We have a New Zealand tour, and we can’t be batting like this then. We are trying to improve and hopefully we do before going away. Good that we’ve won the series now, but we are looking forward to the game in Lahore. Hopefully the ground is full and the people support Sri Lanka as well.”

Man-of-the-match Shadab Khan said that he was trying to win the match when he faced the the bowler in the final over. He also said that he has been working on his bat.

“I was just thinking about trying to win the match. I went for the six in the last over, and Allah helped it carry over the fence. In T20s, you have to have variations with the ball. So that’s what I’ve been working on,” he said.

Sri Lanka captain Thisara Perera said though Sri Lanka lost the game, Sri Lanka had a lot of positives from the game.

“If we look back at this match, we can take a lot of positives,” Thisara Perera said. “My team-mates are giving 100%. Just at the last minute we missed a catch. But we did well. On this wicket, it was really hard to put up a big score. One-twenty four is a hard score to defend but our bowlers did a really really good job to take it that far. My team-mates are giving me 100% effort and so I give my 100% to the team as well. As a captain, I’m really proud of them and our win is not too far away. It’s coming soon. Set batsman need to contribute, if we take the first two batters, our plan is that they have to play till the 15th over. Unfortunately they couldn’t do it. Went to Lahore for the World XI game. It’s an amazing place.”