Bristol: Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur has urged his team to “stay ruthless” at the World Cup as they train their sights on Sri Lanka after shocking England.
The notoriously unpredictable Pakistan side held their nerve to beat the hosts by 14 runs at Trent Bridge on Monday, just three days after crashing to a seven-wicket defeat against the West Indies at the same venue.
That ended a sequence of 11 consecutive defeats in completed one-day internationals. Arthur praised his team’s resolve after a “shocking” defeat in their tournament opener. “It was just so good to see us go out and play with the belief and intensity that we had spoken about,” Arthur told AFP. “
When we put all three disciplines together we know we can beat anybody. We now need to stay consistent and ruthless.” Pakistan posted an impressive 348-8 against a potent England bowling attack, with fifties from veteran Mohammad Hafeez, Babar Azam and Sarfaraz Ahmed.
Pacemen Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir, and leg-spinner Shadab Khan, took the wickets to restrict England to 334-9 in their 50 overs. “You could see the hunger, the determination and the resolve to do well in batting after a horror show and then the bowlers fought hard, so we need to repeat that in the coming matches as well,” said Arthur.
Pakistan have won all seven of their World Cup matches against Sri Lanka dating back to the first tournament in 1975.
Pakistan will be tempted to bring in fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain for his raw pace, something that New Zealand exploited against Sri Lanka during their 10-wicket rout of their opponents in Cardiff on Saturday. (AFP)
