Rawalpindi, March 16“Rawalpindi Express” Shoaib Akhtar celebrated his 100th One-Day iIternational with a thrilling 12-run win against India here tonight and promised to snare a hat-trick “next time around”.
Akhtar, who claimed three for 49, was on a hat-trick after dismissing the last recognised batsman Mohammad Kaif and Zaheer Khan off successive balls but was thwarted in his attempt by Lakshmiparthy Balaji.
“So far I have not been able to take a hat-trick. I will try for a hat-trick next time around,” the local boy said.
The tearaway bowler said modern one-day cricket was losing the balance between bat and ball.
“It has become more and more a batsman’s game. It is becoming that much more harder for the bowlers as teams scoring 300-plus is becoming very common,” Akhtar said.
“I could not land the ball on the spot today, but still we managed to win the game and that is what really matters,” he added.
Indian captain Sourav Ganguly said Scahin Tendulkar, who scored a 135-ball 141, “batted superbly” despite the fact that the Pindi track was “not a good wicket to bat on”.
“The last two matches have witnessed some really good cricket by the two teams so far. But it was not a good wicket to bat on,” Ganguly said.
“It is amazing that 600 odd runs were scored on this track”.
While pointing out that the match slipped out of India’s hand after the fall of Kaif, Ganguly said the toss of the coin did not play a huge role in the teams fortune.
Akhtar, who claimed three for 49, was on a hat-trick after dismissing the last recognised batsman Mohammad Kaif and Zaheer Khan off successive balls but was thwarted in his attempt by Lakshmiparthy Balaji.
“So far I have not been able to take a hat-trick. I will try for a hat-trick next time around,” the local boy said.
The tearaway bowler said modern one-day cricket was losing the balance between bat and ball.
“It has become more and more a batsman’s game. It is becoming that much more harder for the bowlers as teams scoring 300-plus is becoming very common,” Akhtar said.
“I could not land the ball on the spot today, but still we managed to win the game and that is what really matters,” he added.
Indian captain Sourav Ganguly said Scahin Tendulkar, who scored a 135-ball 141, “batted superbly” despite the fact that the Pindi track was “not a good wicket to bat on”.
“The last two matches have witnessed some really good cricket by the two teams so far. But it was not a good wicket to bat on,” Ganguly said.
“It is amazing that 600 odd runs were scored on this track”.
While pointing out that the match slipped out of India’s hand after the fall of Kaif, Ganguly said the toss of the coin did not play a huge role in the teams fortune.
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