Sarfraz happy to finish on high note

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Newly-appointed Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed was happy that his charges could finish off the tour of England on a high note by beating their hosts at Old Trafford by nine wickets in a one-off T20I.

Sarfraz has been given the reins of the T20I team, succeeding former captain Shahid Afridi who stood down after the ICC World T20 earlier this year.

The wicketkeeper showed himself to be tactically adept, as he carefully managed his attack who put on a T20 bowling clinic and showed that cricket isn’t just a batsman’s game.

The skipper held back Wahab Riaz and opened the bowling with Imad Wasim in what proved to be a master stroke.

Wasim would pick up both openers shortly after the powerplay and England lost all momentum.

Wahab then used variations in pace and length to keep England guessing, his four overs cost just 18 runs and he was able to complete his quota without going to the fence.

Speaking after the win, Sarfraz said: “Credit to our bowlers … and then Khalid and Sharjeel played really well.

“After we won the match in Cardiff, the morale was very high when we arrived here.

“But I told the players that when we are playing T20 cricket we want some energy and we want some good fielding on the ground. The players did that.

“This is how to play modern-day cricket.”

After a disappointing ODI series, Pakistan will be delighted to add the T20I victory to their achievements in the Test series and banish the ghosts of the 2010 spot-fixing scandal.

Safraz added: “The whole tour was very good, our Test cricket was very good. We wanted to finish on a high note and we did.”

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