File image of Australian cricket team. (ICC Image)
Skipper Aaron Finch conceded that Australia were sloppy in the field and gave away too many runs that resulted in the team's 45-run loss against Pakistan in the fifth T20I of tri-series in Harare on Thursday.
Helped by Fakhar Zaman’s 42-ball 73 and Shaheen Afridi’s 3/37, Pakistan restricted Australia to 149/7 after having put up 194/7.
"I think we didn’t get going all day, with ball and in the field and then with the bat we could not develop any partnerships. I thought it was a 170 wicket. I thought we let them get away a little bit. Our fielding was a bit sloppy as well so it was a disappointing day all around," Finch said after the defeat.
"You like to keep winning all the time. Unfortunately we couldn’t do that today (Thursday). We have got a short turnaround for Zimbabwe tomorrow and hopefully come out here on Sunday and turn it around," he added.
Meanwhile, Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed heaped praise on his bowlers — especially Shaheen Afridi — for dismissing Australia to a sub-par score in the chase.
"Today’s pitch was a difficult one for me as a captain. If you pitch the ball up, it was easy to hit on the up. But credit goes to my bowlers," Ahmed said.
"We gave (Shaheen) Afridi an opportunity because we have been carrying him for the last two-three series. So we gave him a chance, and the way he bowled today ... it was excellent bowling. (Mohammad) Amir, Shadab (Khan), (Shoaib) Malik and (Usman) Shenwari all did a great job.”
Australia play Zimbabwe in the last league game of the series on Friday, before clashing with Pakistan again in the final on Sunday.
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