Pakistan skipper Babar Azam was full of praise for his players, Abdullah Shafique and Mohammad Rizwan, after the duo hit magnificent centuries to complete a record run chase in the history of the ODI World Cup against Sri Lanka. (Scorecard | Report | Full Coverage)
The Men In Green recorded their second successive win, defeating Sri Lanka by six wickets in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
Chasing a indomitable 345 for victory, thanks to Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama's centuries, the 1993 World Cup winners recorded their win in 48.2 overs with Rizwan hitting the winning runs. Earlier, Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batter Menis scored 122 to take the Islanders towards a daunting total.
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"All credit to the boys, especially Abdullah and Rizwan, for the way they built the pressure and put pressure on Sri Lanka. We weren't up to the mark in the first 20-30 overs. All credit to Mendis, he played an outstanding knock," Babar Azam said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Babar Azam also called the win as a team effort and not as a individual effort. The skipper also praised his bowlers. Speaking on Shafique, Azam said that he was proud to see him score a ton and was proud to see him perform exceptionally well in his first World Cup.
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"We finished well, all credit to the bowlers. (On Shafique) Very happy with the way he's playing. This is his first World Cup. His hunger to play, I saw him in the nets so I decided to play him. The way Rizwan and Abdullah built the partnership, they helped us. We believed and built partnerships," Babar added.
Pakistan's next fixture is against India in Ahmedabad on October 14.
