Afridi “frustrated over struggling batting line-up” after 8-wicket rout by SA

ABU DHABI - Pakistan’s One-day International and Twenty20 skipper Shahid Afridi was again left flabbergasted by his side’s dismal batting display after they slumped to an eight-wicket defeat in the opening ODI against South Africa.

After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Pakistan collapsed from 140 for one to 203 all out in 49 overs, losing nine wickets for 63 runs in the process, the Daily Times reported.

Returning to the international fold for the first time since he was banned after a woeful tour to Australia earlier this year, Younus Khan hit two boundaries during his 75-ball stint to hit 54 runs, before he was claimed leg before wicket by Botha, who also knocked out Mohammad Hafeez for 68 runs.

“I’m really happy to see Younus back in the team, he really performed well and added to the batting,” said Afridi.

“He and Hafeez did well with that partnership, but later on we did not do well. The rest of the guys didn’t stick to the plans. A few of the guys are going through a tough time at the moment, but hopefully we will bounce back in the coming games,” he added.

The skipper showed his disappointment with his side’s batting line-up, saying, “I am frustrated about the batting, which is struggling, but we will try to do some extra practice and try to improve.”

“The bowling and fielding are perfect, we need to bat with better plans and last 50 overs,” added Afridi, who himself scored only 1 run before getting caught out.

Man-of-the-match Lonwabo Tsotsobe was the chief tormenter for the Pakistanis, grabbing career-best figures of four for 27.

South Africa vice-captain Johan Botha was all praise for him as well as the rest of the bowlers, saying, “We were always happy with restricting them to 203. Lonwabo did a good job and all the guys chipped in nicely.” (ANI)