Former Pakistan player Salman Butt believes that England completely outplayed Pakistan in the final of the T20 World Cup 2022 on Sunday, November 13. The former Pakistan captain has also shared that the Pakistan team didn’t score enough runs in the summit clash, making their bowling unit’s task a lot more challenging as well. He also opined that things may have been a little different had Babar Azam and Co. scored well with the bat.
Butt, however, applauded the Pakistani bowlers for keeping the pressure on the English batters during the chase of the sub-par target. He shared this while speaking on his YouTube channel following the T20 World Cup 2022 final.
He explained: “England outclassed Pakistan in all departments. I have always maintained that the contest was going to be between Pakistan bowling and England batting. The same happened today, as Pakistan didn’t score enough runs.”The bowlers would have been more effective if they had a better total to defend. However, the Pakistani bowlers did put up a strong fight, dismissing five batters and taking it to the 19th over.”
Notably, Pakistan could manage 137/8 in 20 overs after being asked to bat first at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Shan Masood (38) and skipper Babar Azam (32) got off to a decent start but others failed to make a significant impact.
Butt further shared how most of the Pakistani batters got out while attempting to play big shots. However, he also stated that it wasn’t the ideal approach for this pitch, given that it was difficult to hit across the line. The veteran said that players should have rather focused on playing proper cricketing shots on a tricky pitch.
He added: “Pakistan were at least 20 to 25 runs short. The wicket wasn’t such that you could hit it through the line, as the ball was seaming a bit. Batters from both teams found it difficult on this surface. You had to play proper cricket, as Shah Masood did. When we were in a position where we needed to score 50 to 55 runs in the final six overs, they again tried to play big shots.”
Meanwhile, Salman Butt explained how Pakistan struggled against Adil Rashid, failing to pick his googly. He added how even Babar Azam lost his wicket because he couldn’t read the delivery.
“We have been repeating the same mistakes. The Pakistani batters aren’t able to pick the googly. Even Babar Azam was undone by that today. He tried to play the cut shot, but ended up losing his wicket,” Salman Butt concluded.
However, England secured a brilliant five-wicket win in the contest to lift the title for the second time. Ben Stokes, with his unbeaten knock of 52, guided his team to chase down the total in 19 overs as well.
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