T20 World Cup: Can’t tell how proud I’m of this bunch: Raza on team’s win over Pakistan
Speaking after the match in a post-match conference, the ‘Player of the Match’ was emotional and could not find words to express his excitement and happiness. He said that he was really proud of his teammates.
Perth [Australia], October 28 (ANI): Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza was gasping for words after his team’s thrilling win over Pakistan in the ongoing T20 World Cup and expressed his sense of pride over the team’s achievement.
Speaking after the match in a post-match conference, the ‘Player of the Match’ was emotional.
“I am lost for words, my mouth’s dry probably because of the emotions I am going through at the moment. I can’t tell you how proud I’m of this bunch of boys,” Raza said.
The right-handed batsman did not have a great day with the bat, but came back to bowl in the second inning and took three crucial wickets to seal the game for his team. He was appreciative of his bowlers and said that the team kept believing in itself to win the match.
“The way our seamers started at the top, was just unbelievable and the way we backed it up in the field and the way we kept believing, really lost for words,” said the all-rounder.
“When we were coming to Australia, I said to my captain (Ervine), if you become Man of the Match, pick any watch from the catalogue and I’ll buy you that. But if I win Man of the Match (award), you’re going to buy me one. I was reminding him that he owes me three watches now,” said a happy Raza, reminding his captain of the watches that he owed him according to a bet they had.
Raza thanked Australian veteran Ricky Ponting after the match as he had seen a video of the Aussie captain, which motivated him to come up with a match-winning performance.
“I was excited today, and I watched this clip by Ricky Ponting earlier in the morning, and that motivated me to come up with this performance. I would like to thank Ricky Ponting for that,” thanked the Zimbabwe player.
Pakistan’s team’s over-dependence on their opening stand came back to haunt them as Zimbabwe defeated them in a low-scoring thriller by one run to clinch their first Super-12 win of the ongoing T20 World Cup on Thursday at the Perth Stadium.
Pakistan made a mess of a paltry chase as they suffered a batting collapse and left their bowlers to chase and win the match for them. All-rounder Sikandar Raza took three wickets in a short span to dismantle the chase.
Earlier, Pakistani bowlers unleashed hell upon the batting lineup of Zimbabwe to trigger a batting collapse, restricting them to just 130/8.
Pakistan’s decision to play an extra pacer in Mohammad Wasim Jr worked wonders for the team as the youngster ended with his best T20I bowling figures (4/24) to restrict Zimbabwe to a below-par total. Sean Williams and Brad Evans helped the team cross the 100-run mark. (ANI)
