Online Reporter
A disappointed Salman Agha said his team had “underperformed” after they exited the T20 World Cup on Saturday but held back from making an “emotional” decision on his future as Pakistan captain.
Pakistan were knocked out on net run rate despite beating Sri Lanka in their final Super Eights match in Kandy on Saturday.
“We have underperformed in the whole tournament,” Agha told reporters.
“We are out of the semis due to our failure in decision-making in pressure situations.”
Opener Sahibzada Farhan became the only player to score two hundreds in the same T20 World Cup as Pakistan posted 212-8.
But they failed to restrict Sri Lanka to 147 and New Zealand went through to the semifinals.
“Farhan was outstanding in the tournament but none of the other batters could come up to expectations,” said Agha, who only managed 60 runs in seven tournament matches.
Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka hit 76 not out off 31 balls with eight sixes as Sri Lanka scored 207-6 to lose by five runs.
A rained-off Super Eights opener against New Zealand and a defeat to England left Pakistan needing to beat Sri Lanka by a massive margin to advance.
“(Head coach Mike) Hesson and I take the responsibility as we selected the eleven for the matches,” said Agha, who added he would not make an immediate call on whether to stand down as captain.
“I will go back and take some time to decide,” he said.
“Because at this point of time stepping down would be an emotional decision.”
Meanwhile, New Zealand qualified for the T20 World Cup semifinals after Sri Lanka avoided a big defeat against Pakistan on Saturday in Kandy.
Pakistan, who needed to win by 65 runs in their final Super Eights match to pip New Zealand on net run rate, won by only five after scoring 212-8 with Sri Lanka just falling short on 207-6.
Sahibzada Farhan hit a 60-ball century for Pakistan, his second of the tournament, to take his side to their highest total in any T20 World Cup.
Pakistan needed to keep Sri Lanka down to 147 or fewer, but Pavan Rathnayake hit 58 and captain Dasun Shanaka struck an unbeaten 76 off just 31 balls to snuff out Pakistan hopes of advancing
“When I lost the toss, it was always going to be challenging (bowling second) because of the dew,” said Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha.
“Then it was a very good pitch and restricting them below 148 was going to be a challenge. But we tried.
“I think if I won the toss then it could have been a different story.”
After a thrilling chase, Sri Lanka needed six off the last ball but Shanaka failed to connect after hitting three of his eight sixes in the final over as he took 22 off Shaheen Shah Afridi.
“It was that close of a game, I could have finished it. But, yeah, unfortunate. Well bowled to Shaheen,” said Shanaka.
The result puts New Zealand through to a likely meeting with South Africa in Kolkata on Wednesday for a place in the final –SuperSport.
