COLOMBO: Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez (picutred) said he was proud of his team’s World Twenty20 campaign despite a semi-final defeat to Sri Lanka, adding the hosts deserved to be in the final.
Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath proved Sri Lanka’s main weapon with 3-25 after the home side scored a modest 139 in their 20 overs at R Premadasa Stadium on Thursday.
The defeat is the second successive exit at the semi-final stage of the World Twenty20 for Pakistan.
“We played positive cricket and I am proud of my team,” Hafeez said. “Sri Lanka deserved to win and they are worthy finalists on the basis of what they have done in this tournament.”
But the skipper admitted the target should have been well within his side’s reach.
“The pitch was turning and it was difficult to score runs and we lost some wickets in the middle and couldn’t stage a comeback. We should have chased that down.”
The Pakistan captain backed out-of-form all-rounder Shahid Afridi, dismissed first ball by Herath. “There is no doubt that he still is a match-winner,” said Hafeez. “There is no doubt about his abilities. He is going through very bad form at the moment. He worked hard to come out of it but failed,” the captain added. AFP
