Misbah unearths positives in defeat

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Cricket365
December 21, 2013

Captain Misbah-ul-Haq found consolation in solid performances from batsman Ahmed Shehzad and seamer Junaid Khan, after Pakistan sunk to a two-wicket defeat in Friday's second ODI against Sri Lanka in Dubai.

Triumphant in the series opener in Sharjah, Pakistan pushed for a two-nil lead – but fell short despite Shehzad's century and three key breakthroughs from Junaid.

The centurion formed the backbone of a formidable total of 284 for four, after which Khan's middle-order wickets were not enough to prevent the opposition from securing triumph with two deliveries to spare.

"The biggest positive is that the batting is going well. Ahmed, again, it was a really good knock. He played a good one in South Africa and here, it was a mature one," said Misbah.

"It was good to see our top-order getting big scores – that has been much needed for our team. It's normally the biggest problem for us, but I'm really happy with the way it's been going."

"Junaid is our outstanding bowler. In the last year and a half he has really improving and here he was good. But we really need to improve our death bowling. It was a problem for us.

"Our fielding was better. It brought us back into the game with the first two run outs. There were a few overthrows towards the end, but there were no lapses. Overall I think it was good."

The third ODI will get underway at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday. The Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi will host fixtures four and five.