Pakistan batters show their mettle
Pakistan’s group-stage campaign featured several strong individual batting performances, though there was room for improvement.
Sameer Minhas and Ahmed Hussain starred in their tournament opener against Malaysia, producing knocks of 177 not out and 132 respectively to lift Pakistan to 345. The bowlers took the charge thereafter, bowling out their opposition for merely 48 as Pakistan sealed a thumping 297-run win.
The following encounter against arch-rivals India, however, saw the batting unravel under pressure. After restricting India to a modest 240, barring Huzaifa Ahsan (70), the batters struggled to get going. Pakistan incurred a 90-run loss.
The young side bounced back with aplomb in their final group encounter against the UAE.
Contributions from Sameer Minhas (44), Ahmed Hussain (65), and Hamza Zahoor (42) helped Pakistan post 241, which proved sufficient as the UAE were bowled out for 171.
Pakistan’s pace attack continued to pose questions with the new ball throughout the group stage, with Mohammad Sayyam and Abdul Subhan leading the way, picking up seven wickets each.
