Australia beat Pakistan by 79 runs to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match Test series.
Melbourne: Pakistan Team Director Mohammad Hafeez maintained that his team played better cricket than Australia despite losing the second Test by 79 runs at the MCG. With this loss, Pakistan trail the three-match series 0-2 with the final game starting on January 3. Australia captain Pat Cummins took five wickets as Pakistan were bowled out for 237 runs in their second innings while chasing 316 to win.
Pakistan could have won the game as Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha almost took the game out of Australian hands but Cummins ended the 67-run partnership in bizarre and dramatic fashion just 15 minutes before the scheduled close of play.
“We played better cricket as a team. I’m proud of that. The way the team had the courage to attack this game in the best possible way. Our batting intent was better, and while bowling, we were hitting the right areas,” Hafeez told ESPNCricinfo.
“We made some mistakes that cost us the game but as a team I believe that there were a lot of positives, enough to win the game but unfortunately at the end we didn’t win the game,” added the former Pakistan captain.
Pakistan were guilty of dropping few catches to. With Australia reeling at 46/4 in the second innings, Abdullah Shafique dropped Mitchell Marsh when he was on 20. The right-hander went on to score 96 and forged a 153-run stand with Steve Smith for the fifth wicket.
Hafeez defended Shafique. “As a team, you always back your teammates if something is not going well for them. But we made this decision thinking if he’s not feeling comfortable (at slips), Babar (Azam) is a better slip fielder, so why not make the change?
“He (Babar) should take the lead and go to first slip. I think that also worked out very well for me as a director because I could see the right person was doing that job. Obviously, Abdullah is also a good fielder, but he wasn’t feeling confident in the slips,” said the former all-rounder.
However, Australia captain Pat Cummins, who was also the Player of the Match, did not endorse Hafeez’s view on the better team in the match. “Cool! Yeah, they played well, but glad we got the win. Doesn’t really matter, does it? (if Pakistan were the better team). It matters who wins at the end,” said Cummins.